The Legacy of Paneau: Audacity
by Sile Crowley
Summary: Sequel to LOP: Resilience. The strain of distance and hardships wear on the Rys'tihns and the Natiyrs, forcing difficult decisions for the future of the growing families. Occurs 5.0 to 6.2 APC.
1. Chapter 1

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_  
_5 APC_

"NO! Want Mommy! Want Mommy! WANT MOMMY!"

Derek Rys'tihn's defiant screams had just echoed up the Manor's main atrium to the fourth floor where Rech Natiyr was walking, headed toward the turbolift to begin his day. Curious, he stepped over to the railing and looked down to the atrium's ground level, watching Derek's tantrum on the floor with a heavy heart. He knew why the four-year-old boy was so upset...

Derek's mother, Jedi Knight Elena Rys'tihn, had been gone on an extended mission for the Jedi Order. She had become embroiled, maybe even trapped in a volatile civil war on Montar while trying to negotiate with both sides, despite having been singled out for the task by both. Along with her and Mand, Rech had also had brief experience with the two warring groups years ago as a Jedi Academy student, some time before they had all ended up on Paneau. The situation hadn't resolved in the interim; actually, it appeared to have escalated, and Elena had been there for nearly a year and a half. The separation had long since begun having a wearying effect on her family, and Rech had been on hand to watch it worsen day by day. Koril's increasing solitude and silence, while expected, made recent interactions with him delicate and awkward, but normally well-behaved, Derek hadn't acted out so dramatically before.

More than a dozen people, including servants, officers, and other various staff members, had stopped their tasks to worriedly watch their High Commander as he stood paralyzed in the face of his son's loud crying fit. Eager to help, Rech quickly continued down to the ground floor, stepping up to Koril and Derek...just as his own five-year-old daughter Cordira approached them from the other side of the room.

The girl's long, fiery orange-red hair carelessly floated behind her as she ran up to Derek's side, having left her seat and her breakfast in the dining hall to comfort him. She knelt beside him and hugged him tightly, talking to him quietly as he began calming in her hold. Within a few moments, Derek's only sounds were a few soft sobs, but he firmly maintained his gaze on the floor in front of him, refusing to look back up at his father. Cordira spoke up instead.

"Daddy, Mr. Rys'tihn, can we go play outside?"

Cordira's sweet, innocent Coruscanti accent was still so foreign to Rech, even though she had left her silent phase behind months ago. He still even had to control the reaction on his face every time she spoke...

Though he still looked so lost, Koril nodded shakily to Cordira, earning the attention of Kollie and Raen who were waiting nearby. Cordira stood and helped Derek to his feet, too, as he rubbed his face dry, still staring at his feet with an occasional sniffle. Koril watched blankly as the two children left with one of their nannies, and Rech only stepped closer to him when the crowd had dispersed, observing him closely for a few moments. When Koril remained silent and seemed completely unaware of his company, though, Rech gripped his shoulder to give him some encouragement, but he only became more concerned when Koril closed his eyes as if in defeat.

But contrary to Rech's initial assumption, Koril let go of a long, tired breath that was more indicative of relief than despair. His shoulders sagged with the release of obvious tension that had apparently been holding him prisoner, and as he opened his eyes once more, Rech noticed they suddenly seemed more...alert, more focused, almost as if he had just woken up and had consciously forced the weariness from his eyes. As strange as it seemed to Rech, he didn't dwell on it long; Koril turned to him with a resigned expression.

"I just asked him to put his shoes on."

Rech nodded, dropping his hand from Koril's shoulder. "He's tired. We all are."

Koril gave a half-hearted laugh. "At least we know _someone _can keep him in line."

"Yeah, she did have a way with him, didn't she?" Rech grinned, hoping to keep the tone of the conversation light as he glanced behind him at the hallway the three had left through. "I promise, I had nothing to do with that."

"I know," Koril answered with a light sigh. "They're inseparable. It's like they have their own language." The same distant and saddened look from earlier returned to his eyes as he continued. "A language I'll never know..."

Anxious to keep Koril's spirits up, Rech tried to refocus his thoughts. "Derek will be okay, Koril. He's already made it this long." He paused a moment, again redirecting the conversation. "Have you heard from her recently?"

Blinking repeatedly, Koril's eyes cleared again, and looking to Rech once more, he shook his head. "No, not for a few weeks now."

Rech struggled to refrain from frowning. "Well, from what you told me, it sounds like she's been making a lot of good progress recently, right? She's probably just really busy."

An odd twitch at the corner of his mouth delayed his breathy response. "Probably." Just as before, though, the distant look in his eyes was gone as quickly as it had returned, continuing to concern Rech. "I haven't seen Mand this morning."

"Early morning training sessions with Ri this week," he answered quickly, still watching Koril closely. "She's been leaving even before Cordira gets up."

Rech studied his friend's face for a moment, trying to determine if something else, something external and completely unrelated to his longing for his wife was behind the vacant stare that kept resurfacing... "Koril?"

"I have a long meeting with a group of Governors beginning this morning," Koril returned as he snapped back to attention. "I'll be in Kirodai for most of the day. Major Jax will be with me, so I'll be leaving Major Tidesetter in charge here. If you need anything, contact her first."

Rech nodded warily, but before he could ask a question, the other nanny approached them, holding a sleepy Dirani in her arms. Koril reached out and gently lifted the eighteen-month-old toddler from Raen into his hold, smoothing her fine white hair with his hand as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning, my sweet girl," he greeted her softly, giving her a light kiss at her temple. Dirani only made a tired, sad whine as she buried her face into his shoulder, tightly gripping a fistful of his uniform in her small hand. Raen looked apologetic.

"I think Derek kept her up through the night. She's usually very good about getting up in the morning."

Though Koril looked concerned, Major Jax earned his attention instead as he stepped up behind him, indicating that his transport had arrived for his trip. With another kiss on her head, Koril began handing Dirani back over to Raen despite the girl's delayed, sleepy cries. Raen gently bounced her in her arms to calm her, and Rech even rubbed her back, but Koril continued on out of the Manor with the same blank look on his face that remained unchanged even as Dirani's crying intensified.

* * *

_Montar_  
_5 APC_

"Elena! Elena! _Elena_!"

Hearing the other voice over her own pounding headache was just as painful as it was annoying.

"Stop _yelling._.." Elena managed to moan, keep her eyes tightly shut. Had she spoken loud enough to have been heard?

Beside her, her friend and fellow Jedi Knight Kihara Marelleck gave a short, amused laugh, confirming Elena's question.

"I wouldn't have to if you'd quit blacking out on me."

Elena still wasn't used to Kihara's informal and often irreverent attitude, especially while they operated as official ambassadors for the Jedi Order on Montar, but just glad to see Kihara back to her old self, the way she was before Master Noor's death, Elena couldn't complain too much.

She could tell she was laying on some kind of hard bench, and she was beginning to recognize the telltale hum of a ship's engines underneath her. The concern in Kihara's voice was new, too.

"You okay?"

"Do I look it?"

Another short laugh. "Well, now that you mention it, you do look like hell."

If her eyes had been open, Elena would have rolled them. She sighed instead. "Appreciated."

She felt Kihara's heavy hand on her shoulder, and thankfully it didn't hurt. "Relax, you've just got a few cuts and bruises."

Was that all? She brought her hand up to her throbbing forehead, groaning. "My head..."

"...and maybe a solid concussion to round it all out," Kihara added reluctantly; Elena could imagine the wince on her friend's face. "Do you remember what happened?"

Finally forcing her eyes to open, she looked up through a haze as they watered reflexively, still traumatized by the...blast...

"An explosion in the marketplace."

The blurry outline of Kihara's face hovering over her nodded slowly.

"Casualties?"

Kihara shrugged. "A few. But don't worry. This time, it _wasn't_ the Coerrel Government."

"How do you know?"

"A group of extremists were quick to take the credit. You weren't the target, though. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time...again."

A rash of small attacks had sullied her first few weeks of peacetalk efforts on Montar, though she had never been directly harmed by them. They were obviously designed to intimidate her, but she remained resolute, and they had even declined in frequency and lethality as the months wore on. Someone was apparently still dissatisfied, but she certainly wasn't going to back down now.

Feeling a few scrapes stinging on her face, she gingerly ran her finger over one on her cheek, rubbing some of the dried blood off her skin with a sigh. "My husband is not going to be happy..."

"A little bacta will clean up those cuts in no time, Elena."

But that wasn't the issue... "I promised him I wouldn't get hurt."

Instead of sympathy, a large grin spread across Kihara's face as she laughed. "Well, that was a dumb thing to do. You _did _tell him what happened to you the last time you were here, didn't you?"

The last time she had been on Montar, she had been much younger and much less experienced. What had happened back then shouldn't have had any bearing on how she'd perform now -

"Hey," Kihara continued with a muted, serious tone, seeming to have picked up on Elena's insulted thoughts. "The vote's in two weeks. We are _almost _through with this. We'll be going home soon."

Their transport's engines whined with the strain of a landing, and it rocked only slightly as it touched its struts to the ground. She could only assume that they had returned to their guest accommodations in Waeryll on the Bomarg side of Montar, the compound that had become her home for a year and a half...

"Home," she returned with uncertainty, thinking of nothing else besides her beloved Rys'tihn Manor and her family she missed dearly as Kihara and a few Bomarg Montarians helped her up and inside, tending to her wounds without much interaction from her. Before she was really aware of what all had happened, Kihara was already directing her to her bed within the modest compound, ready for sleep as night descended upon the city. As Kihara wordlessly climbed into her own bed on the other side of the small room, Elena followed suit, settling into her sheets as she thought through the day's events.

Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary as she left the Coerrel Council Chambers, as she had countless times before. The Coerrel Montarians were the aggressors in the ongoing fighting, determined to assert themselves as the dominant Montarians, but in recent months, she had been able to coax them into recognizing that their genetic similarities to the Bomarg Montarians made them equals, and that the two offshoots needed each other to survive. The Coerrel Council agreed to settle several border disputes with delegates from the Bomarg, but the majority of their policy changes was being left up to their voting public, and both Elena and Kihara had just earlier in the day arranged for the vote to be held in two weeks. Electing last minute to sample Coerrel cuisine before heading back to Waeryll for the night, Elena had apparently decided to visit the wrong marketplace; the explosion had been far enough away to not have immediately caused her serious injuries, but she must have been close enough to have been blasted back into a wall, earning her a concussion.

She could just imagine the look of worry and disappointment on Koril's face when he learned of the incident. He was so determined to keep her from ever getting hurt...

Except for what he was doing to her.

She hadn't physically been with him for the entirety of her stay on Montar, but she had done her best to keep in constant contact. Short messages, transmissions, even a few holos, but their conversations had become more and more one-sided over time, to the point where he hardly talked at all. She knew the distance was hard on him, especially with their two young children left solely in his care, but he had become increasingly distant and expressionless, and both Rech and Mand had confirmed on separate occasions that Koril was in that state almost constantly anymore. It saddened her, and if she was honest with herself, it scared her, too. How could she remedy it from the other side of the galaxy?

"I don't know what kind of home I'm going back to."

She had already spoken aloud before she realized that maybe Kihara had already gone to sleep. Looking apologetically over to her roommate, she was surprised to see Kihara still wide awake, meeting her gaze with sympathy. Initially, Elena regretted sharing such a painful, personal thought when she hadn't really intended to discuss it, but after considering it for a moment, she felt more relief than anything; maybe Kihara was feeling the same.

Her voice had almost stopped working, though. "...I think I'm losing Koril."

Kihara looked contemplative for a brief minute, but she shook her head knowingly, abnormally confident in her answer. "No, no you're not."

A bit put off by Kihara's certainty, Elena furrowed her brows. "He's hardly talked to me..."

Kihara shrugged nonchalantly, hinting at a grin. "He would have taken on the entirety of the Huxnel if you had asked him to. Oh wait..."

Their exchange that day before he handed himself over to the Huxnel, the last time she would see him for almost a year, still sent chills through her, vividly recalling that terrible virus's effects she had felt from him through the Force. She stared straight up at the dark ceiling overhead. "I didn't ask him to do that."

Kihara kept her tone light. "Even better, then. You didn't _have _to ask him."

Not appreciating the direction Kihara was taking, Elena shot her an irritated look, but Kihara was quick to counter.

"The point I'm _trying _to make...is that I know you would never lose him, not like this. It sounds to me like he's just...a bit lost without you. Lost like a little bantha cub."

Finally able to, Elena laughed, amused at the familiar children's story reference. "My mother used to read me that story..."

Kihara nodded after a moment, her voice more somber. "Mine, too."

Elena's expression fell, as well, recalling Kihara's traumatic childhood. Early in her life, Kihara had lost her entire family in a fire, and she was the only survivor thanks to the intervention of a Jedi Master who happened to be nearby and sought out the Force-sensitive girl. She still bore the scars around her eyes from the injuries she had sustained in the blaze, and she had been blind for years until her pregnancy with her daughter Danyielle, who was also Noor's daughter...

"I'm sure Dany misses you terribly."

Releasing a slow breath, Kihara nodded sadly, but as she looked back up, her expression was more reticent. "But I haven't been here nearly as long as you have. She's done okay so far. She's tough." A bittersweet smile spread across her face as she thought a moment longer. "She looks just like him, you know," she mused affectionately, "especially in the eyes. She even gives me the same 'I know I'm right and you're going to fold to me' look he always used on me..." Her smile faded, though, as she swallowed hard, refusing to lose herself in her emotions. "Genes are strong."

Though no one had ever said it outright, Elena still felt that in an indirect way, Noor's death had been her fault, as he had sacrificed his life to protect her unborn son Derek from a Force Lightning attack that would have killed him. The guilt had weighed upon her daily for years, and until now, she had never discussed her feelings on the matter with Kihara so personally...

"Kihara, I..."

"I know what he did," she interrupted Elena quietly, looking to the side as her voice shook. "And...as much as it hurt, losing him... I _am _glad he saved your son."

Unsure how to respond, Elena remained silent for what felt like several minutes, gathering her thoughts. She, too, cast her gaze elsewhere as she spoke, mostly because her eyes were refusing to focus...

"There was a long period of time...where not a day went by that I didn't wish I could have stopped him somehow. I've thought through that day over...and over...and over... I should've done something differently, so he wouldn't have had to... But recently, something's been stopping me. It's like a...a calmness...a sense of peace that I haven't had since that day. It's a feeling like...I should be okay with it. But why? Not for closure, not for the sake of my own conscience...but because I've realized that his sacrifice didn't just save my son's life...it saved others, too.

"As a Force Ghost, he brought Rech back from the Dark Side when no one else could have found him. He consoled Mand after her first traumatic miscarriage when even her husband couldn't get through to her. And I'm convinced that he's saved Koril's life numerous times, always bringing him back from what surely would have killed anyone else. I know it'll sound...stupid, or trite, but...I believe it was the will of the Force...and he obeyed to the last."

Kihara stared hard at the ceiling, pursing her quivering lips together to force slowed breaths in and out of her nose. After a few moments, tears fell from her eyes as she nodded, agreeing with a saddened smile. "He gave me my sight back." With a short laugh, she added, "Both kinds." Her expression fell again as she thought a moment more, her eyes closing drowsily. "You're lucky. You knew him longer than I did."

Though tiring, as well, Elena looked over at Kihara, keeping her voice quiet. "...doesn't he visit you?"

She looked up at the ceiling again, her brows furrowed. "Not since he healed my eyes. That was...a few years ago..." Her voice trailed off, as though she were reliving the memory, and she began to say more before she stopped herself and turned onto her side on her bed, facing away from Elena. "We should get some sleep. We have more Coerrel Councilors to talk to tomorrow."

Though Elena's lingering headache was going to keep her from getting much sleep, she agreed and put herself into a light regenerative trance, anxious about the two weeks' worth of work that still lay ahead of them.


	2. Chapter 2

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_  
_5 APC_

With their eighth intense, day-long training session over, Mand had finally granted her apprentice some much needed downtime, which Ri was very eager to share with her uncle and older brother. Though feeling a bit rundown herself, Mand was pleased with the girl's performance, having recently put her through more rigorous physical exercises that challenged her balance, focus, stamina, concentration...test that weren't that much unlike what Mand herself had endured throughout her own childhood. Overcoming her aversion to the memories of her training under a Dark Jedi had been difficult, but finally able to separate those lessons she had learned from the malicious intent behind them, she was slowly beginning to accept her dark past, and she was learning how to apply it to the bright future she had long since envisioned for Ri. Of course, it helped that she had such an excellent learner in the girl as she intently soaked up just about every word, whether it was supposed to be a lesson or not. As Mand continued Ri's training over the past two years, there was no denying that Paneau's Princess was talented; though she still didn't truly recognize her own power in the Force, she was getting small, brief glimpses of her potential in different facets of her exercises. It intensely fueled her desire to learn and push herself further, and Mand easily saw the same thirst that had driven her to her own personal best...

Ri wasn't fighting for her life, though. She was earning the right to honor her dead.

The death of her mother Tascit in the Dalon Palace collapse had an unexpected effect on the girl. Almost five years old at the time, she had definitely felt the pain of her mother's passing, but it hadn't totally destroyed her spirit as Mand had feared it would. Ri clung tightly to her brother Jec and her father Veon in the aftermath, yet as time passed, she didn't remain dependent on them, seeming to understand at such a young age what it would mean to take on the title of Jedi that her mother had proudly achieved. Even the loss of her father two years later as she turned seven hadn't stopped her. As her training continued at an increasing pace, Mand wasn't sure there was anything that could.

Returning to the Rys'tihn Manor's main dining hall for a light, albeit late, dinner, Mand wasn't surprised to hear few sounds coming from the grand room, sure that most of the staff had already left for other duties for the night. As she rounded the corner, though, she wasn't sure what she was walking in on, stopping her immediately. Five kitchen hands, each wearing the same haunted expression on their faces, were painstakingly cleaning up spilled food and dozens of broken dishes that were strewn about the floor. One woman's hands were shaking noticeably as she handled the shards of an expensive plate, and Mand had to speak before any of their gazes lifted from their chore.

"What happened here?"

A man standing closest to her, mopping up what looked like the remains of a light soup, was the only one to answer. "The High Commander, ma'am."

Mand arched her brows in disbelief. "_He_ did this?"

The man nodded. "He was...angry... He overturned the table."

Looking to the other two men and two women still cleaning, Mand watched them all cringe almost simultaneously; the fear in their eyes was unmistakable, but...how could Koril have broken so...violently?

Still in shock, Mand focused on them instead, looking them over with concern. "Are any of you hurt?"

"No, ma'am," the man answered, shaking his head. "We were waiting to clear the table when he..."

She struggled to, no, she _couldn't_ imagine her friend Koril reacting so disturbingly; though he hadn't been himself for months, he had been more reserved and distant than anything, never outwardly angry. "Did something...happen to him? Set him off?"

A woman spoke up as she stood from the floor, carefully balancing several cracked plates and a few glasses in her arms. "No, ma'am, at least, not while he was here. He never said a word, and he hardly even looked at his children as he ate."

"Where are they?"

"The nannies had already taken them back up to the playroom before this happened," the man continued. "He was mostly alone."

Baffled, Mand could hardly think. If he was so upset about something, he obviously needed some kind of release, but how could he have lashed out like this at his own home? Without Elena to comfort him, Mand would have to try to calm him, but she would have to find him first; she couldn't feel his presence in the Manor any longer.

"Do you know where he went?"

The four who had made eye contact with her all shook their heads, but finally, the other woman still kneeling beside the shattered dinnerware spoke up, her voice trembling as much as her hands.

"He headed toward the hangar, but I never heard any ship engines."

Though unsure where he would have gone from there, Mand nodded her thanks, looking to the five with a worried expression of her own. "I'll find him. You all be careful."

They nodded despite still being in a daze as she left, and pulling her comlink from her pocket to reach her husband, she knew the hangar would only be a starting point.

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountain range_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

As he walked the silent halls of the lavish Retreat, Cade Rys'tihn was suddenly sure he was no longer alone. He wasn't expecting anyone, though, not even any of his covert agents, so the strange feeling put him on edge. His blaster holstered at his side offered him little comfort; the last time he had met unexpected guests in the Retreat, it hadn't done him any good. His chest even still ached from the damage that encounter had done years ago, but as unsettled as he was, there was something about it that was...familiar? Anxious to meet his company, he continued to the small office he occasionally worked out of, hoping to catch a glimpse of the visitor on the security cams...but he was already standing there in the room, waiting.

His nephew Koril had a the same blank look on his face he had worn for weeks, and his eyes were unfocused, seeming to stare straight through him. Koril hadn't yet reacted as Cade stepped into the room, forcing him to cautiously approach the younger Rys'tihn as if he were afraid to startle him.

"Koril, I...I didn't know you were coming."

Koril blinked, almost flinching as he heard Cade's voice, but his distant look remained for several more strained seconds of silence. Then suddenly as though a switch had been flipped, Koril's eyes snapped to attention, meeting his uncle's gaze with a harsh glare.

"I thought it might be harder for you to ignore me if I was standing in front of you."

Apprehensive, Cade released a slow, tired sigh, wearied by the lengthy standoff the two had been engaged in since Deilia's departure. He had hoped to keep Koril satisfied enough to ward off a confrontation like this, but apparently he hadn't been successful. He wasn't too surprised, though, given Koril's recent instability; he just had thought that Koril's wife would've returned sooner...

Intent on keeping his tone careful, Cade tried to preemptively buffer the argument he knew was coming. "It was never my decision, Koril. It's just the way things are done."

But Koril wasn't placated in the slightest. "Where is she?"

Preparing himself for Koril's reaction, Cade hesitated as he stepped further into the office toward a console to the side. "I don't know."

Before he could react, though, Koril lunged at him, shoving his uncle hard against the wall behind him as he grabbed a fistful of Cade's shirt and twisted it in his grip. With only a moment's pause, Koril pressed his clenched hand against Cade's throat, keeping him pinned to the wall with a foreign rage in his eyes. "The _hell _you don't!"

Surprised by Koril's strength and fury, Cade offered no resistance, only hoping that the clash would speed the release of the deep emotions and turmoil that he had obviously been withholding. Cade had only seen Koril so physical, so desperate one time before, when the life of his unborn son had been threatened by a coma gas attack set off by an acquaintance. But without any of the High Commander's Royal Guard officers around to subdue him as they had before, Cade was on his own.

He had to make it worse before it got any better.

"This...has happened to other Ghost Heirs before, Koril," he continued gruffly, struggling to breathe with his constricted airway. "It's...it's accepted procedure."

Koril's voice became darker as he pressed harder, forcing Cade to cough. "It's not _acceptable procedure_ to me!" The maniacal look left his eyes after a moment, though, replaced by intense emotional pain. "She nearly gave her life for me..."

"I know," Cade choked. "Believe me, I _tried _t-to get the other Heirs to see that -"

"Then you didn't do _enough_!" Again Koril tightened his grip, his volume increasing. "If _anyone _should be removed from their duties...it...it should be _me_!"

As the words left Koril's mouth, they seemed to suddenly negate his anger, weakening his hold. Cade couldn't help but cough as he resumed breathing again, and even as Koril returned to his lost, vacant gaze, Cade had to respond.

"Koril...you didn't do anything wrong."

Hardly a moment passed as Cade's words sunk in, instantly reverting Koril's expression to his earlier anger. "Neither did she!" He tightened his grip again, pressing his fist further into Cade's neck each second. "You're _robbing _a little boy of his mother! You couldn't _stand _that she had a son, not just someone else's child given to her to raise like she had been given to _you_!"

Though unable to breathe again, Cade forced air out in choked spurts. "I'm...not going...to f-ffight you, Koril..."

Color was beginning to drain from his vision as the tense seconds wore on, but two new familiar voices speaking simultaneously finally broke the silence.

"_Koril_!"

Alarmed, Rech and Mand Natiyr quickly stepped up beside them, but Koril maintained his grip, his expression unchanging as though he hadn't heard his friends at all. It wasn't until Mand tightly gripped Koril's free arm that he immediately closed his eyes and his face relaxed, letting go of a heavy breath that took all of his tension with it. He still kept his grip at Cade's throat, though, but once Koril opened his eyes and followed Mand's gaze to his uncle, he released immediately, allowing Cade to draw in choked but welcome breaths. Stepping back in shock, Koril looked genuinely surprised and appalled as he realized what he had been doing, concerning them all.

Rech moved closer to the elder Rys'tihn, wordlessly asking if Cade needed a healing hand. Though he was still massaging his bruised throat and coughing sporadically, Cade shook his head, more intent on watching Koril closely. Mand was still at Koril's side holding his arm, and worried for him as he remained anxious and confused, she gently led him to a bench to sit. She sat beside him and rested a hand on his back as he hunched over, holding his head in his hands. He was obviously distraught, but what could have brought on such a...strange episode?

Gently rubbing Koril's back, Mand kept her voice kind and soft as she spoke to him. "Koril... Please talk to us. We can help you."

But beginning to noticeably tremble, Koril shook his head after a few moments, still staring at the floor. "You can't help me."

Mand looked even more worried for him. "Koril..."

But he continued quietly after a moment, slowly sitting up as he looked at her. "...any more than you already have." His eyes were clear of their earlier rage, but Cade could see latent fear remaining, but fear of what? Calmed, at least, Koril nodded. "I'm okay now."

Mand stole a quick, concerned glance at Rech and Cade before she returned to her friend. "Koril, what's going on? We saw what you..." she trailed off, correcting herself, "...what happened in the Manor's dining hall."

As if unsure what she was talking about, Koril furrowed his brows in confusion, though he remained silent. After a few moments, though, realization quickly neutralized his expression, and again, he looked haunted. Unaware of the event, Cade could only assume Koril's attack on him had been a continuation of what had first started at the Manor, deepening his guilt for his nephew's turmoil.

Clearing his throat to test his rough voice, Cade spoke up in the silence, looking to Rech and Mand. "Could you...give us a few minutes?"

Caught off guard by the request, Mand looked up with uncertainty to Rech who was still standing beside Cade. Neither said a word to each other, but with brief hesitation, she eventually nodded and stood from Koril, squeezing his shoulder as she left with her husband.

Intent on fighting off a cough that would further aggravate his irritated airway, Cade took in careful, deliberate breaths, deciding how he would continue explaining himself. "Koril..."

"I'm sorry, Cade," Koril interrupted, his voice slow and quivering. "I, um...I haven't been myself for a while now." He swallowed hard as he ran a hand through his hair anxiously, looking anywhere but at his Ghost Heir as he explained instead. "Ever since I woke up in the med center after I tried to...save Deilia, I've had these...voices in my head. I don't know who they are, and I don't hear anything specific, but it's the only way I can describe it. Elena said it was like a...sensory overload with the Force, after becoming more open to it. She...subdued it the first time, and it seemed like...as long as I was around her, it stayed...quiet. But when she left..."

As he stopped, the same fear Cade had seen earlier returned to his eyes, but he quickly blinked it away, resuming. "I tried to block it out as much as possible, but I could only do so much. I...I've hardly been able to sleep. And when I'm awake, I..._do _hear everything that's said to me, but it's like it doesn't register right away, like I first think that I'm hallucinating, or in a dream of some kind. With so much...constant noise, I was getting to the point where I just...ignored everything. Until...until I heard _her_."

Looking vaguely troubled, as if he didn't entirely believe it himself, he stared hard at the floor. "I don't know how...but I've been hearing Deilia's voice for the past few days. It's fleeting, and it's hardly more than a whisper, but I _know _it's her. I'm sorry I snapped the way I did. I just feel like...like I _need _to find her. I think she's in trouble... _Where _is she, Cade?"

Though wary of another attack, he couldn't answer Koril any other way. "I told you, I don't know."

Koril was obviously frustrated by Cade's response, but seeming to still be thinking clearly, he remained calm, bringing his hand up to rub his forehead. Cade thought for a moment, too, feeling an icy pang of fear gripping him the longer he mulled over what Koril had said. Could he really sense that Deilia was in peril? Forbidden from communicating with her at all, Cade had no way of locating her, no way to contact her...unless...

He gave a heavy sigh, ignoring his better judgment to at least offer Koril some kind of direction. "What I didn't tell you, though...is that when she left, I sent her with a mission for me." Earning Koril's attention again, Cade continued reluctantly. "The other Heirs don't know about it. And since she can't come back for years, I thought she'd...lay low for a while, at least longer than this, anyway, before she started looking."

"...what was the mission?"

Despite being unwilling to continue, he could at least give Koril a portion of the truth that would be enough to satisfy his question. "You have another cousin. Younger...and completely unaware of his connection to us."

Not surprising Cade, Koril looked cautiously intrigued. "How old is he?"

Still innocent enough of a question... "Seventeen. Old enough to be informed."

With his gaze fixed on the floor in thought for a moment, Koril seemed to suddenly find inspiration, standing to face Cade more directly. "If I keep...listening for her, if I hear a clue about where she is... I want to send a team to her."

Though he hesitated, Cade nodded after a moment, hoping he wouldn't have to follow through with it. He didn't want to have to explain himself any further, and surely whatever Koril was hearing wouldn't be enough to give him a location or even a starting point. Eager to get Koril's mind off the subject, he studied his nephew for a moment, curious about his current state. "You look like you're feeling better than you did even just a few minutes ago."

Koril nodded. "The Natiyrs help me, too, but only when they physically touch me. I don't think they actually know that they're doing it, but they clear my mind like Elena did. It doesn't last as long, though."

"You should tell them about this."

But Koril immediately shook his head. "No, they don't need to know. I can handle it, now that I'll be focused on listening for Deilia." As if suddenly remembering something, Koril began looking about the room for a moment before returning to Cade. "Where's Malin?"

The young Rys'tihn Ghost Heir, Deilia's four-year-old son, had been so difficult for Cade to handle... "He's with his father. And don't ask me," Cade predicted Koril's next question. "You know I can't tell you where that is."

Koril nodded sadly, glancing down at the consoles he was standing near. "I promised Deilia I'd...check in on him."

Cade released a long, slow breath, moved by the emotion in Koril's voice. "I'll...talk to Jorro to see if I can arrange a visit here. I'm sure Malin would enjoy some playtime with his cousin Derek."

Nodding again, Koril glanced toward the door Rech and Mand had left through, looking pensive. He remained silent, though, and seemed somewhat reluctant to leave, making Cade sigh.

"Koril...let your friends help you."

But Koril set his jaw and shook his head, sporting a determined look Cade hadn't seen for months as he left the room.

"Not until Deilia tells me where she is."


	3. Chapter 3

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountain range_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat  
5 APC_

As they continued to wait outside the small room for Koril as he had an extended discussion with his uncle, Rech couldn't stand to watch Mand pace the hallway any longer. He stepped in front of her path and gently gripped her shoulders, inclining his head to silently meet her gaze. She looked at him with pained concern for a moment, unable to hide a minute tremble in her voice.

"Something's not right with him."

Rech nodded. "I know," he returned softly, releasing her. "He did the same thing to me a few days ago."

Alarmed, Mand's eyes grew wide. "He attacked you, _too_?"

"No, I meant that sudden...change, that complete switch. You saw it, didn't you?"

Still worried, she shrugged after a moment. "I don't know what I saw. I have never known Koril to be so...so _violent_."

Again Rech nodded understandingly; he had seen Koril express the same kind of righteous anger before, but it had been resolved before anything drastic had the chance to play out. Grief-stricken by the thought that Mand had been killed on Demmar during a struggle with a then-unknown enemy, Koril had become nearly inconsolable, as most of them had, but his sorrow easily translated into anger and intense frustration, and Rech wouldn't have been surprised if it had eventually escalated to a physical release of some kind.

Mand still looked upset, though. "...what can we do?"

"I'm not sure. He said we already helped him, but I don't know what he meant by that."

"I just wanted to calm him," she admitted softly as she looked to the floor. Rech was beginning to put it together, though, as he recalled their tense interaction just moments before.

"When you grabbed his arm? You were calming him?"

Somewhat surprised by his question as she met his gaze, she nodded.

"That's what I did the other day, too," Rech continued, releasing a slow breath in thought. "This has to be Force-related...but I didn't know that Elena had taught him anything yet."

"She hasn't."

As Koril stepped into the hallway beside them, he seemed a bit more...at peace than he was earlier, and a new look of determination kept his eyes sharp and undeterred by walking in on his friends talking about him. He shook his head after a moment to dismiss their regret, looking slightly repentant himself.

"I'm sorry you both had to see that. I...hadn't realized what I had done at the Manor, either."

Though she had quickly recovered from his unexpected entrance, Mand frowned at him. "Koril, there has to be _something _we can do for you... Will you please talk to us about it?"

As she finished her question, she brought her hand up to grip his arm like she had earlier, but surprising both Rech and Mand, Koril stepped back out of her reach before she could touch him again. His expression didn't change, though, as he shook his head once more, denying their offer to help him.

"I'll be fine."

Rech was far from convinced. "Look, if you're having some kind of trouble with a portion of your Force-sens-"

"I _said_, I'll be fine."

Though his tone was a bit more forceful, Koril's expression still remained the same, and it seemed to Rech that Koril wasn't grasping just how worried his friends were for him. Unsure how unstable Koril still was, Rech refrained from pushing the issue further, as did Mand. After looking about the hall for a moment, Koril returned to them with his brows furrowed.

"How did you get in here? The Retreat's security is only to grant access to Rys'tihns, unless I say otherwise."

Despite being reluctant to speak, Mand answered him quietly. "Derek and Cordira are with Major Jax in the front atrium."

Koril hardly paused. "Did you bring the _Celestia_?"

"No, we came in the _Novalis_," Rech returned after a moment, his own wariness evident in his tone. The Natiyrs' craft was smaller and nimbler than the bulky luxury yacht, and they knew they needed to locate their friend quickly. When Koril remained silent, though, Rech lightened his voice to continue. "It's late. We all should get back to the Manor."

Without any acknowledgment, Koril walked away wordlessly, headed toward the turbolift that would take him down to the lower level to meet the others. Rech only watched him for a moment before he turned to Mand, sighing sadly.

"I want to make sure Cade's alright," he told her quietly, but the weary look in his wife's eyes focused his concern on her instead. "Are _you _okay?"

Mand nodded after a pause, closing her eyes briefly to settle her own anxiety. "Just tired." With a light sigh, she gave a small smile. "Ri seems to think that she's the only one who's working that hard when we're training."

Worried that she might be more fatigued than she was letting on, he gently brushed back her long brown hair from over her ear and rested his hand against the side of her neck, furtively assessing her condition with the Force. "Mand, you're still recovering... You probably shouldn't have done so much this week."

She nodded. "Probably, but...I needed to. Kept my mind off it."

Softly running his thumb along her jaw, he tilted her face up to him with his palm and leaned in to kiss her sweetly. Though he knew she might notice anyway, he attempted to discreetly share some energy with her while she was distracted, but he could feel a growing smile tightening her lips against his.

"You're losing your touch," she whispered with a faintly teasing air as she leaned back from him. "But thank you."

Rech smiled a bit, too, as he kissed her at her temple. "Go back to the Manor, get some rest. I'll join you soon."

Her smile faded as she looked down the hallway where Koril had gone, and though he remained concerned for her health, he had another injury to tend to and had to watch her leave without him.

* * *

_Bakura: remote Telaan Mountains_

Though she was very sure she was still breathing, Deilia Rys'tihn felt like she was suffocating. Her lungs were on fire, possibly literally, and she wouldn't have been surprised if she coughed and watched thick smoke billow out of her mouth. Her throat seared anew with each choking breath, but it was the left side of her neck that burned even more fiercely, forcing her to assess the rest of herself quickly. She was laying back against something...lumpy, but somewhat soft, and it kept her head rolled onto her right shoulder awkwardly. She didn't dare move, though, until she could open her eyes against her pounding headache **-**

**-** but sudden pressure on the left side of her neck caused her even more excruciating pain. Her reflex opened her right eye, but her left remained swollen shut as her breath solidified in her chest in shock -

"It's bacta, Dee! It'll help, but you have to stay _still_!"

Finally able to gasp and breathe through clenched teeth, she waited for the bacta to soothe the burn on her neck before she looked back up again at her rescuer, glad to see the young man knelt at her side.

He looked over her wounds worriedly, but as their gazes met, she could see the transparent remorse in his eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you out any sooner... I had a hard time finding you. The smoke was so heavy..."

Just thankful to be alive, Deilia reached up and gripped his arm just below his palm that was holding a bacta-soaked rag against her neck, giving him a weak yet appreciative smile. "I'll be okay, Garran, thank you." Her rough, hoarse voice sounded terrible, but she expected as much considering how irritated her entire throat was. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Garran shook his head. "No. You told me to run, so I ran. I don't think they saw me."

She had begun to nod in response when a twinge of sharp pain burned down her neck again, freezing her in place with a grimace on her face. Garran looked even more guilty, thinking that he had worsened her pain. "The bacta was all I had up here, but maybe I can get you something else from home -"

"Garran," she interrupted gently, reassuring him with a soft tone and another wan smile. "It's _okay_. I've survived a lot worse, believe me." She slowly lifted his hand from her neck and held the rag in place herself, gingerly distributing the healing salve to more of her burned skin. Her smile faded, though, as Garran turned and looked longingly out the mouth of the small cave they were taking refuge inside. In the diminishing light of the evening, the raging fire still consuming a humble home located further down the mountainside washed warm oranges and yellows across Garran's disheartened face, turning his golden brown hair into a shimmering fiery red. But even as the flames were reflected in his light brown eyes and made them look more amber, they couldn't mask the pain of loss he made no effort to hide.

"...you can't go back in there."

Garran didn't respond for a long moment, remaining quiet and somberly watching the blaze as it destroyed everything he had known in his sheltered, seventeen-year life. "There won't be anything left to go back to. It's all burning..."

Despite already knowing how empty her words sounded, she at least had to say _something_. "...I'm _so _sorry, Garran."

For the past week, Deilia had been staying with Garran at his home, helping him to sort through his late mother's belongings. Deilia had arrived on Bakura in search of a woman named Solienne Bolc, a recluse whom she had finally been able to track down after more than a year of hunting. Upon reaching Bolc's home, Deilia met Garran, and he informed her that his mother had died just a week earlier from a long, arduous battle with an illness she had refused to treat. Frustrated that she was too late but recognizing that the young man was in need of a friend, she stayed, getting to know him well as she listened to his stories about his quiet life with his mother Solienne.

They had just begun to tackle a room that was small but full of various tools and supplies that Solienne had used for projects over the years when the home became the target of a violent break in. Before Deilia could sufficiently assess their situation, she had encountered two powerful burglars who fought her hand to hand. Thanks to her warning, Garran had been able to slip away unnoticed and unharmed. During her fight, she took a few hits to the face, which explained her swollen eye, but at some point, she had been knocked out; she couldn't remember how the scuffle ended. The smell of smoke brought her around briefly sometime later, but she had no idea how she had gotten the burn on her neck, nor did she know how Garran had been able to pull her out of the blazing inferno in his home and all the way up the mountainside to their current shelter. He wasn't the most able-bodied seventeen-year-old she had seen, but apparently he could be when necessary.

Feeling the weight of the tense silence between them as Garran continued to watch the fire, Deilia tried to say something more, but nothing else appropriate came to her mind. He had lost his mother, his entire world just two weeks ago, and now he could only watch as everything else that would remind him of her ascended to the sky in unsightly, merciless smoke. What else could she say to a young man she had only known for a few days? His heartbreak was almost unbearable for her to see, but unsure what more she could do for him, she simply remained with him, waiting out his grief.

With a heavy, sad sigh, Garran finally tore his gaze away, looking down at his hand as he pulled it from his jacket pocket. He held something concealed tightly in his palm, but he kept his grip on it, as if he were afraid he would lose it, too, if he let go.

"At least I was able to grab this... It would've survived the fire, but...I couldn't leave it."

As she looked at his fist, his fingers slowly released, allowing her to see a small, oval, smooth green marbled stone with breathtakingly intricate carvings and..._very _familiar detailed symbols...

"Mom never went anywhere without it. Even when we just went down to the market in the valley...she kept it in her pocket. It meant a lot to her. She never told me why, though." His brows creased together in thought for a moment, and luckily Deilia corrected her expression before he looked up at her. "Is it a good luck stone or something?"

She had to stifle a larger smile. "Maybe it is. Seemed to do you well enough, getting me all the way up here by yourself."

Surprisingly, Garran smiled a bit himself at her praise, turning the stone over in his palm to inspect its opposite side. But again his expression fell after a few moments as he continued to suffer the weight of grief, and even though she knew he was still reeling from his loss, she had to know...

"Garran...was there something of...value in your home that they wanted? Something they wanted desperately enough that they destroyed any evidence that they took it?"

He considered her question silently for several minutes, running his fingers absentmindedly over the stone's carved grooves as he thought. Eventually he shook his head, returning his gaze to the fire below. "Mom made a decent amount of credits off her paintings when she sold them, but I never would've thought that they were popular enough to steal." His eyes saddened even more as he continued. "They were so nice, so detailed... The forested landscapes she painted so many times really appealed to a lot of the Bakurans who live in this valley. Even though the mountain ranges looked like they could have been anywhere around here, she always included a small...building hidden in the trees, or a ship in the sky that obviously wasn't Bakuran, and I had never seen anything like them before. Whenever I asked her about them, she just shrugged and kept on painting..."

Though tears began to form in his eyes, he blinked repeatedly to thwart them, refusing to cry in front of her. "I wish I could have saved one," he confessed quietly, his voice shaking. "Something else of hers...to remind me of her..."

Becoming emotional herself, Deilia had to close her eyes to keep from tearing up, as well. Garran had greatly risked his life going back into the burning home to rescue her, a stranger who had only become his friend just days before, and it cost him the chance to salvage his mother's works before the fire consumed everything. To him, they were precious memories he could no longer retrieve, and unable to connect to anything of hers except for the stone in his hand, Deilia could easily sense how lost he felt. She owed the young man her life, and she could, no, she _should _grant him his wish...

Her voice still sounded so raspy. "What would you say if I told you...that I could get one of her paintings for you?"

He didn't even look up. "I'd say, the fire has already burned them all, and you shouldn't go back in there, either, with all that smoke you've already breathed in."

"No, not here... Somewhere else."

As he looked down at her again, his eyes were reluctantly curious. "...where?"

It was dangerous enough for her to go to the city-planet so soon after her exile, let alone actually get to one of the paintings...but she had to. "Coruscant."

He nodded after a long moment, but Deilia wasn't finished with her terms.

"If we leave, Garran, we can't come back. I will take care of you until you no longer need me, but...you can never come back here."

With another long look down the mountainside, Garran seemed to have made up his mind fairly quickly. "There's nothing left for me here. I'll stay with you, Dee. Now wherever you go, I'll go."

Though she wasn't expecting such a rapid turnaround, she smiled tiredly and nodded to accept his pledge, glad to see a slight glint of hope in his eyes. "We should wait until morning, though," she added after a moment. His response was almost instantaneous.

"I'll get you a blanket."

Confused, Deilia watched as he disappeared further into the back of the small cave, but she could only turn her head so far before her neck burn began to protest her movement. She heard what sounded like Garran rustling through a large cargo box for something, but within a few minutes, he returned with a blanket like he said he would, but also with other supplies she hadn't expected. He set down a small glowlamp beside her, as well as a bag of what looked like food rations before he draped the heavy blanket across her, even making a careful effort to avoid grazing it over her neck where she was still holding the bacta rag. Caring for her was obviously second nature to him, but where had the supplies come from?

"I played up and down this mountainside a lot when I was a kid," he answered her unasked question as she sat back down at her side. "I found this cave when I was six and made it my secret hideout. I knew Mom found out about it, but I've kept it stocked with survival supplies ever since just as a joke." He gave a short, bitter laugh. "Never thought I'd use it to actually hide in."

Sensing his returning anxiety, she reached over with her free hand and gripped his shoulder, making her voice as reassuring as possible despite its roughness.

"We'll be okay, Garran."

Appreciating her gesture, he nodded and laid down on his side facing her, tucking a light jacket under his head as a makeshift pillow for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

_Coruscant_  
_Paneau Consulate _  
_5.4 APC_

Returning to Coruscant after spending almost two years among Bomarg and Coerrel Montarians who hardly stood more than a meter tall, Elena almost felt out of place around beings her height. It was cruel, too, to be sitting in Consul Neludu's empty, silent office awaiting an escort home to Paneau when the decor and atmosphere reminded her so much of the Rys'tihn Manor without actually being there. She could just smell the light, pleasant fragrance that always hung in the air with the fresh bouquets of purple panna flowers that were brought in each morning, and she could easily see any of the handful of paintings on the walls exchanged with those around the Manor's. Though she knew it wouldn't happen, she was still somewhat hopeful that Koril would walk into the office to meet her at any moment, giving them a chance to talk as they hadn't for months...

"M'lady?"

Startled out of her reverie, she looked up to a group of three Paneau officers, only one of which she recognized. Assuming that her escort had arrived, she stood from her seat to leave, but the muted, grim expressions on their faces halted her before she moved much further.

"Captain Arscoll, m'lady," the familiar woman introduced herself quickly. Forcing her mind out of its travel-laden grogginess, Elena recalled that Arscoll had only recently been relocated to Coruscant when she was appointed security chief for the Rys'tihns' apartment on the city-planet. Thankfully Major Jax had kept Elena informed of the personnel changes as they happened while she was gone, so Arscoll's presence there wasn't a surprise once she thought about it. Curious what had brought the captain to her directly, though, Elena nodded in return.

"I'm sorry to tell you this as you're on your way home," Arscoll began hesitantly, "but I thought I should inform you in person. There was a break-in at the apartment two nights ago. No one was residing there at the time, and our security cams only caught brief glimpses of the burglar. The only item we've been able to determine that's missing is a painting from the main living room; nothing else was touched."

Elena arched her eyebrows. "A _painting_?" Of all the opulent treasure that was in plain view and was much easier to smuggle out of the apartment undetected, why had a bulky painting been targeted? If she was thinking of the right one, it wasn't small, and while it was a fine piece of art, it wasn't necessarily a unique masterpiece. There were several like it around her in Consul Neludu's office, there were dozens of similar pieces at home in the Manor, and she even remembered seeing some in Dalon Palace before its destruction. Recalling what Koril had told her about them years ago, she became even more confused. "It was done by a local Paneau artist more than twenty years ago. It wouldn't have much value here, or anywhere else outside of Paneau, for that matter."

Arscoll nodded. "We're continuing to run sweeps through the entire apartment to look for anything that might have been left behind, intentionally or not. I've handpicked the increased guard presence in case another attempt is made, and we'll be checking and rechecking the building's security to determine how it was circumvented and how to prevent it from happening again. We will find out who did this, m'lady, you have my word."

Elena sighed as she nodded, accepting the captain's pledge. "Keep me informed, and send along the recordings. I'll see if the High Commander has anything to add that might help."

"Of course, m'lady," Arscoll concluded with a bow, as did the other two officers at her side, before they left, leaving Elena alone in the room once more. Frustrated with having to wait even more, she sat back down in her seat and rubbed her forehead, desperate to quell her anxiety that was worsening the longer her return home was delayed. With their mission _finally_ completed on Montar, they first brought her friend Kihara Marelleck home to Coruscant. Though exhausted, Elena would have been perfectly satisfied to pilot herself home to Paneau, if only Consul Neludu had not been so adamantly opposed to it. So instead, she had to stay put and follow protocol as the wife of Paneau's Head of Security...

Lightly running her fingers over her Rys'tihn Crest's smooth, jeweled surface as it sat just at the base of her neck, she debated on whether to send a message to the Manor to announce her return. The cessation of hostilities on Montar had taken much longer than she had hoped, even when it seemed to have been winding down more than four months earlier. Her family and friends weren't expecting her back just yet anyway, especially when she had repeatedly postponed her anticipated arrival after problems with the Montarian peace agreements continued to surface. She often wondered if she'd ever be able to leave, but even as she sat in Neludu's office, it felt almost...artificial and surreal, like she wasn't really there and she was only imagining her upcoming trip home.

She missed her children dearly, and she knew her absence had been hard on them, especially since they were so young. Dirani was hardly four months old when Elena left, so how attached to her could the two-year-old girl still be? And Derek had become so upset when he couldn't hug her holoform during their first transmission days after her departure; her heart seared fiercely as she had to watch his anguish from the other side of the galaxy, listening to his unrestrained cries as no words of hers could console him. Mand had told her a few weeks after the sad transmission that Cordira was keeping him distracted, but he, too, had grown up two more years without her. He was now almost four and a half, so how would he react to her return?

Hearing the office's door opening behind her this time, she turned to look back at her new company and was pleasantly surprised to see more familiar faces. Edgepoints Mennil Leikam and Saross Wip, dressed in their finest Paneau Royal Navy uniforms, were approaching her with kind smiles, looking as happy to see her as she was to see them. Finally smiling, too, she stood again and met them halfway, embracing Swip tightly in a friendly hug before he had the chance to bow to her. Though he was a bit surprised, he returned her hug, laughing lightly at her enthusiastic greeting.

"It's good to see you, m'lady."

She released Swip after a moment, turning to embrace Leikam in the same manner. "You two are definitely a sight for these tired eyes."

"We were already on our way to Coruscant when Consul Neludu told us you were here," Leikam continued as Elena stepped back from them both. Swip nodded.

"We brought the Consul her new assistant. You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

Just glad to see her two favorite Edgepoint pilots, she could dismiss the wait. "A little while," she shrugged, "but it's been nice to just take in familiar surroundings again. Are you two my escort back home?"

They both nodded with even broader smiles.

"Whenever you're ready to leave, M'lady."

She nodded, too, still smiling. "I've been ready since I got here."

"I'll prepare the ship for departure, then," Leikam returned as he bowed, quickly leaving for the hangar just floors below. Still standing in front of her, though, Swip turned on his heel to her side and politely offered his arm to her, a gesture far more formal than their relationship had become in recent years. She had once again gotten unused to being treated so cordially, but appreciating his kindness, she clasped both of her hands around his arm just above his elbow, leaning into him slightly. With the chance to relax around her close friends, she realized just how tired she really was, allowing her fatigue to show instead of always keeping up a front of strength. Swip seemed to take notice as he walked slowly with her, remaining silent as though he could tell she was working through her own thoughts. Against her better judgment, she opened their private discussion with a difficult subject...

"I'm worried about him, Swip."

Already aware of what was on her mind, he nodded carefully as he matched her soft volume. "We all are, m'lady."

"...has he gotten _any _better?"

He drew in a long, cautious breath, hesitant to explain. "He...goes in and out. He seemed to be the most focused a few months ago, but...he sank back down into the same state after a while." With a slight pause, he inclined his head toward her, quieting his voice even more as he gently placed his hand over hers that were still locked around his arm. "Maybe it would help if he knew you were on your way home now...?"

She took a few moments to consider it more, but eventually she shook her head. "We'll have two more days of travel before we even reach Paneau. I'll contact Rech and Mand before we leave, but...I'll wait to talk to him in person. Might be the only way I can get through to him."

Finally reaching the turbolift that would take them down to the Consulate's hangar under them, Swip pressed the panel to open its door and stepped inside with her, choosing the lower level. "I think just having you back home will do a lot to raise his spirits."

As the lift's doors swept closed, she nodded sadly. "I hope so."

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_

Though morning hadn't even broken over the frigid capital city, Mand was already awake but remained in bed, determined to not disturb her husband still sleeping beside her. Her stomach was churning, sometimes intensely, but she was doing everything in her power to subdue it and remain still. Rech was such a light sleeper, and he often woke with her slightest movement, but hopefully he wouldn't pick up on her distress through the Force, either; she didn't want him asking questions. He'd be able to piece it together if he found the nutrient supplement she'd been taking and the special tea Tascit had taught her how to make years ago.

As much as she wanted to share the news that she was expecting again, she didn't know how much more heartbreak Rech could tolerate. After her first traumatic miscarriage during the Huxnel attack on Demmar almost four years earlier, she had discovered that it was her own body that had attacked and destroyed the infant within her, a result of the experimentation that had been done on her in her late teens. She had only been able to carry Cordira to term with the help of Master Noor and a steady concoction of nutrient supplements, but her subsequent pregnancies had been far more disastrous. In the past year and a half, she had suffered two more devastating miscarriages, each as physically and emotionally incapacitating as the first. They had reduced her ability to keep up the intensity of Ri's training, even despite the lengthy breaks she took in between sessions. Rech had done his best to lessen her fatigue in the interim, but he couldn't lend her energy all day long, and she didn't want him to. Eventually he would be able to sense the baby's tiny presence in the Force, and she couldn't bear to see the look of such deep sorrow in his eyes if she were to lose this one, too.

But something about this pregnancy kept her...cautiously hopeful. She was already a few weeks past the point where she had lost the previous three, almost to her third month. Concerned that her body was reacting differently to this one for whatever reason, she began taking the same nutrient supplement that had gotten her through her pregnancy with Cordira, and it seemed to be working. If it wasn't for her worsening morning sickness that had prefaced her first miscarriage, she'd feel almost confident enough about it to tell Rech...

Another wave of nausea turned into a sudden splitting headache, though, forcing her to close her eyes and bring a hand to her head as she failed to stifle a soft groan. She hadn't even taken another breath before Rech had turned to face her, sitting up and leaning over her with concern.

"Mand?"

It wasn't fair how quickly and easily he shed the signs of sleep, looking instantly alert as though he had already been awake for several minutes.

"Just a headache," she whispered as she lowered her hand, releasing a slow breath to calm her stomach. "I didn't mean to wake you."

Rech lightly brushed his fingers over her cheek before gently settling his hand on the side of her neck. "Most people don't wake up with headaches."

Looking up at him, she gave him a weak smile. "I'm not most people. You're well aware of that."

He continued to study her worriedly, though, and she could already feel him soothing her pain with the Force. But without the headache to command her attention, her nausea returned; she had to close her eyes and discreetly hold her breath to let it pass.

"What else is bothering you?"

Before she could deflect again, though, she heard Cordira beginning to cry as she woke up in her room beside theirs. The poor girl had been tormented by nightmares for days, yet she refused to talk about them. If they were anything like the visions Mand had encountered in her own dreams, it was understandable why Cordira was reluctant to repeat them.

"I'll go," Rech volunteered quietly with a light sigh. "You rest." He kissed her lightly on her forehead as he got up out of bed, disappearing around a corner into Cordira's room. Thankful for the distraction, Mand, too, climbed out of bed, holding her hand over her stomach, though it did her little good.

_Come on, little one. Can't you make it easy on me this time?_

She was still somewhat groggy as she made her way through the dark room, reaching down to a small shelf where she kept a cooled pitcher of the special tea in case she needed it urgently before she could make some downstairs in the Manor's kitchen. She poured herself a glass and was only able to down a few gulps before the comm desk in the living room beeped with an incoming transmission. Hoping Rech would remain occupied with Cordira, she continued sipping it as she pulled a light robe around herself, sitting at the console while consciously correcting her expression that was probably still reflecting her discomfort.

As Elena's image appeared on the screen, Mand's relief at seeing her friend removed any remaining traces of sickness she felt. Elena's expression was remorseful, though, quickly dampening Mand's mood.

"I just realized what time it is there," Elena began apologetically. "I'm so sorry!"

"No," Mand casually dismissed her worry as she shook her head. "Don't be. We were all up already."

Elena winced. "That good of a morning, huh?"

"Yeah, but lucky for you, your day is almost over, right? How are things going on Montar?"

"It seemed to be going well enough when I left it yesterday."

Caught off guard, Mand blinked. "You...left? You're done there?"

A small, tired smile slowly crept across Elena's face as she nodded. "I never thought I'd see the day. We brought Kihara home to Coruscant first, and now I'm just about to leave with Swip and Leikam. It'll be another two days, but I'm almost home, too."

"That's great, Elena! Derek will be so happy to see you, and he'll be even more excited to hear you're coming home."

"Well, I was hoping to make it a surprise for them. Two days of excitement would drain them both pretty quickly."

Mand nodded as she released a slow breath. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Her bright expression faded, though, as she continued hesitantly. "...what about Koril? Do you want me to tell him?"

Distressed by the topic, Elena cast her gaze to the floor, her brows furrowed together in obvious pain. She seemed indecisive for a few moments before she looked back up, slowly shaking her head.

"No. I don't think he'd...listen unless I was actually there, anyway. I'll talk to him when I get back. Inform Major Jax that we should be arriving around this time in two days. He can coordinate everything else from there."

"Okay. Anything else I can do?"

"That should be all for now." Elena sighed lightly, looking as physically and emotionally exhausted as Mand expected her to be. "You've already done so much for me, Mand, helping Kollie and Raen with my children all this time. How can I repay you?"

Mand gave her a friendly grin. "I'll think of something."

Elena rolled her eyes with a lighthearted scoff. "I'm sure you will. See you soon."

As the screen returned to its dark, silent state, Mand quickly downed the rest of her tea, hoping it would last her the remainder of the long morning that lay ahead.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_  
_5.4 APC_

Despite being a light meditation to rejuvenate herself before arriving on Paneau, Elena still heard the transport's engines slowing as it descended to the surface, and she only felt a subtle jolt as it landed, both a welcome and worrisome feeling. She took in and released a deep breath to calm her rising anxiety, but she remained seated with her eyes closed until she sensed Swip quietly stepping up behind her.

"M'lady...we're home."

The mixture of emotions was difficult for her to process. Though she knew she should be nothing less than elated to be returning to her family, her fear of her husband's unstable state weighed heavily on her, making it nearly impossible for her to think about anything else. Still, she stood from her seat in the transport's rear hold and gave Swip a small smile as she walked over to his side. Surprising her, the lieutenant looked refreshed, even after their long two-day trip; Swip easily interpreted her curious expression and casually shrugged with a grin.

"I'm always up this early, m'lady. It's a routine day for the Edgepoint Squadron. Did you get enough rest?"

She nodded a bit reluctantly, amending her response. "Some."

Understanding her hesitation, he held his hand out toward the transport's rear ramp, inviting her ahead of him with an amiable smile. "The Natiyrs are waiting just outside. And don't worry, they were already here when we landed."

If she didn't know any better, she would have assumed that Swip had read her mind, but he seemed to know what she was thinking even before she did. Perhaps it was her fatigue making her thoughts more transparent than she wanted them to be, but as much time as they had spent together in recent years, he would've caught on anyway. Appreciative of his kindness, she smiled, too, and embraced him in a warm hug, giving him a light kiss on his cheek as she stepped back from him.

"Thank you, Swip."

"As always, a pleasure, m'lady," Swip returned as he bowed slightly to her. "We'll be around whenever you need us."

With another smile and a wave up toward the cockpit where Leikam was still seated at the controls, she left the transport's main hold, descending its rear ramp into the Manor's large hangar. As Swip had said, Rech and Mand were already there waiting, as were Major Jax and a few other Royal Guards who all bowed when she looked to them. She met the Natiyrs first, though, and Mand's embrace was somewhat overeager and tight, but expectedly so.

"Welcome home," Mand greeted her with bated excitement, and Rech looked just as excited to see her, too.

"For a while there, we thought we were going to have to come rescue you ourselves."

Rolling her eyes in good humor as she turned to hug Rech, she gave a short laugh. "If I recall correctly, I was the one having to rescue _you two_ the last time we were on Montar. I don't even want to imagine what kind of trouble you would've gotten into there today."

"I think we learned our lesson back then..." Tossing a significant glance at Rech, Mand grinned. "Never split up."

Rech laughed, too. "At least when the Coerrel were involved." He returned his attention to Elena after a moment, anticipating her question before she had even thought to form it. "The children are still asleep upstairs, including Cordira. Kollie's with your two."

Glancing between her three closest friends surrounding her, she could see on their now solemn faces that they weren't going to say anything else until she asked.

"...and Koril?"

Major Jax turned his gaze to the side while Rech and Mand exchanged hesitant looks, heightening her anxiety. Mand finally spoke up, though, albeit quietly as if afraid to be overheard.

"He hardly sleeps anymore...but I did see him go into your bedroom just before we came down here. He should still be there."

At least he was somewhere they could talk privately...

"Elena," Mand continued carefully after a moment, looking at her with concern. "I'll come with you if you want someone else there...just in case..."

It took Elena an extra second or two as she looked at them both to realize that her friends feared another violent snap from Koril, and the thought momentarily took her breath away. Even in his uncharacteristic, unpredictable state, Koril could never hurt her intentionally...could he?

"I'll be fine," she tried to dismiss their worry, even though her own voice trembled. Before they could protest more, she stepped past them, heading into the Manor and up to her room while leaving the others behind wordlessly.


	5. Chapter 5

_Paneau: capitol city of Dalon  
Rys'tihn Manor  
5.4 APC_

Though she had taken a few minutes to carefully look in on Derek and Dirani as they slept, it was taking even longer for Elena to muster enough courage to enter her own bedroom. She could sense that Koril was still inside, but he was...idle, awake but completely unaware that she was standing just beyond the door. Anxiously trembling, she struggled to swallow a hard lump in her throat, a thousand different thoughts racing through her mind. Her wedding ring, a Hoth Diamond solitaire, easily slipped about on her finger as she nervously played with it, realizing for the first time just how thin she'd become during her mission. Her constant worrying about Koril and her children must have taken such a drastic physical toll on her that she hadn't noticed before.

Setting her jaw as she took in and held a final shaky breath, she depressed the panel beside the door which slid it open with a soft _whoosh_. It was dark inside, but what she could see of their room with the hallway's lighting filtering in behind her looked just as she had left it almost two years ago. As her eyes continued adjusting to the darkness, she saw that at the back of the room, the balcony doors were wide open to the cold night outside...and Koril was sitting on the edge of their bed with his back to her, looking through the doors out into the early dawn's purple sky. He didn't move or even flinch, seeming to have not heard the door open or close behind him at all. The frigid air that filled the room made Elena shake even more as she stepped in further, her heart pounding in her chest...

"...Koril?"

He only moved his head, turning an ear partially back toward her, but appearing to dismiss what he heard after a few tense moments, he returned to his previous position, becoming still once more. Did he not believe she was actually in the room?

She could hardly find her voice. "Koril...I'm right here. I know that this has been so hard for you, but..._please...talk to me_..."

Again he turned his head slightly back to her when she spoke, but he remained wordless as he leaned forward and held his head in his hands, propping himself up with his elbows on his knees. Feeling her eyes beginning to sting with forming tears, she continued into the room toward him, though her legs felt heavy as durasteel. After what felt like an eternity, she stood just in front of him, and still he was unresponsive to her presence. Though she was afraid of startling him, she slowly sank to her knees at his feet and looked up into his eyes, not entirely shocked to find them unfocused and distant. Though his expression reflected the anguish and turmoil she could easily sense flowing from him, he seemed to be staring straight through her without even realizing it, and it wasn't the first time she'd seen him like this. Against her better judgment, she reached a trembling hand up to his face, gently placing her palm against his icy cold cheek...

She was expecting a more...dramatic reaction, but the instant she touched his skin, he closed his eyes as he drew in and let go of a long, deep breath. She could feel his tension leaving him as he released, his body sagging with fatigue, but as he opened his eyes, the change was immediately noticeable. Though his irises were black and had lacked depth for years, she had learned to read his eyes in other ways; he looked genuinely surprised to see her kneeling in front of him, but he was silent until he brought his hand down from his head to lightly grip her wrist, finally recognizing her presence there in front of him.

"Elena... You're home."

With a weak, pained smile, she nodded, delicately running her thumb over his cheek to comfort him. His skin was so cold under her hand, colder than she remembered even when he had been in a coma more than four years prior, worrying her more than his apparent confusion and disorientation. "Koril, you're freezing..."

Considering her words for a moment, he looked up at the open balcony doors behind her, and she could see the comprehension on his face as he deduced why the room's temperature was so abnormal. His mental faculties seemed to be returning to him slowly, but she wished there was some way she could speed it up to keep him talking. She saw a heavy blanket laying over the back of a nearby chair, and as she got to her feet to retrieve it, Koril stopped her as he tightened his grip on her wrist with sudden urgency. He was looking up at her with unrestrained fear before he swiftly stood, as well, stepping closer to her.

"_Don't go_."

Though surprised by how quickly he moved, she met his intense gaze again, feeling her uncertainty about his love for her dissolving the longer they stood together in meaningful silence. Careful not to upset him further, she gently loosened his hold on her wrist and held his hand instead, lightly tugging him toward the chair with her so she wouldn't have to go far from him. The more he came to his senses and the more he moved, she noticed, the more he began to shiver, as if he was for the first time feeling the cold air through the light sleepwear he had on. After depressing the control panel to close the balcony doors behind her, she grabbed the blanket off the chair and wrapped it tightly around him, bringing him back to their bed to sit and hopefully eventually sleep. He followed her silent directions obediently, his eyes never leaving her as though he feared she would disappear if he did. Did he still not believe that she was really there?

Once she ensured that the blanket remained secure around him, she sat closely beside him, brushing her fingers lightly over his cheek. She was glad to feel that he was warming up, but her expression didn't remain positive for long. Though the look of relief and contentment in his eyes said more than she had gotten out of him for months during their transmissions, he still hadn't actually spoken more than five words, and there was so much she needed to know...

"Koril," she began as gently as she could, "...what has been going on with you? Why haven't you said _anything _to me?" She had to pause as another lump formed in her throat, reflecting her returning anxiety. "...I thought you had...given up on us, on me." After thinking a moment more, though, and considering the terrified, reticent look in his eyes, she was beginning to piece it together. "...you didn't think you were actually talking to me, did you?"

Genuine realization rolled over his face as he shook his head, but his expression quickly returned to shocked sorrow as he struggled to explain himself. Though his mouth moved to form words, he made no sound for a long, tense minute until he regained his voice, trembling even more than before.

"I heard you... I did, but...I...I was never sure..."

At a loss for words once more, he trailed off as the same distant look returned to his eyes. Trying to keep him focused, though, she caressed his cheek again and looked into his eyes, hesitantly continuing for him.

"...those voices again? That's what this is about?"

He immediately locked gazes with her again as he nodded, brought back to her by her touch. "They returned...even louder...after you left."

"Oh, Koril," she soothed, still stroking his face as her voice was moved with pity. "Why didn't you tell me? At the very least, you could have told Rech or Mand, and they would've done _anything _they could to help you."

But he rebutted immediately. "I didn't want them to."

Though he said nothing more, she had an idea what would have prevented him from involving their friends...

"Asking for help does _not _mean you're weak, Koril. The fact that you even need help right now means that you are stronger. Your Force-sensitivity has opened you to things you haven't been able to comprehend, and there is no shame in needing an extra hand to control it. I'm sorry I haven't been here to help you and teach you what you need to know -"

She stopped herself, though, as he continued to shake his head, and only after she remained silent, wordlessly pleading for his answer did he speak again, though he struggled to.

"That's...not why..." Visible fear returned to his expression as he went on reluctantly, heightening her anxiety. "I started hearing...Deilia...her voice, and I don't know how, but I could tell that she was in trouble... She needs help, and...I was trying to listen for more, for anything that would tell me where she is...and...I got lost in it." If she hadn't been able to sense the intense emotion radiating from him, she wouldn't have understood what he spoke well below a faint whisper. "I'm sorry..."

With his sincere, heartfelt apology and the revelation that their lengthy separation was not the root cause of his distance as she had thought, she couldn't withhold her own emotions any longer. She broke down into sobs of relief, allowing all the tension and worry of the past months to fall freely as heavy tears from her eyes. Her entire body shook as she sat beside him, and though she began to lean against him, he stood from her side without a word, slowly stepping toward the balcony. With his back to her again, he was staring out the closed transparisteel doors, quieting her sobs and concerning her even more.

"...Koril, don't leave, please..."

"I hurt you," he continued with pain and regret as obvious on his face as in his voice as he turned back to face her, still weakly holding the blanket around himself. "How can you...why _wouldn't_ you want me to leave?

Wanting only to calm him as she easily felt his deepening anguish, she, too, got up from the bed and stood just in front of him. His eyes were again beginning to express his lost, broken spirit, even as she gingerly ran her fingers across his cheek. She softened her voice with such heartfelt care, she wasn't even sure she had spoken aloud to him, perhaps instead communicating her words through the Force. "It's okay... It'll be okay..."

But he shook his head, his eyes sharpened and intensely focused on her once more. "No, no, it's _not _okay. I've...no excuse..."

"Koril, stop," she demanded with sudden strength that even surprised her as she gently cupped his face with her hands. "Do you hear me? _Stop_." Even though she knew he had to feel her shaking, she remained entirely intent on relieving his escalating distress instead. With her volume quieted again, she carefully studied his unique onyx eyes as she hadn't been able to for years. "I can sense..._everything _you're feeling right now...and it's crushing me."

His only response was even more guilt, but as tears again silently fell down the side of her face, she gently pulled him closer, lifting herself up onto her toes to softly kiss him. Like the air in their room, his lips were still icy cold, and though she wanted more, she refrained, leaning back from him just slightly to meet his gaze again. He still seemed so...desolate and miserable, but she could tell his heart rate was slowing the longer she stood with him just so...

"I will help you," she continued at a whisper. "I will help you find her."

Taken by surprise by her pledge, he furrowed his brows. "Why? Why would you do that?"

He knew full well her relationship with her sister-in-law was...rocky at best, especially after how the Ghost Heir had treated her during her pregnancy with Dirani. However, Elena had in her own mind settled her major issues with Deilia, choosing to overlook them in favor of appreciating the insurmountable task Koril's twin sister faced every day. "Though I've not agreed with...most of her methods," she continued softly, "I can't ignore the fact that she has sacrificed _so _much for us...rescuing you, me, and Dirani from the wreckage of the _Driftdance_, and then protecting you and Derek in the hangar..." After releasing a shaky breath as those memories returned to her so vividly, her voice hardened with resentment. "She didn't deserve what they did to her." Feeling him calming even more as she spoke, she was beginning to relax herself, allowing a small smile as she continued. "And she's your sister. Nothing will ever change that."

As another long silence stretched between them, she could sense his tension slowly easing its grip on him, his shoulders sagging with fatigue that had imprisoned him for so long. She lifted herself back up onto her toes to get closer to him once more, gently touching her forehead to his as she had done countless times before. In such an emotional moment, she hardly breathed, partially out of relief, but also in fear of missing anything he might say. Instead of more words from her, though, she focused on creating a stronger connection between them in the Force, allowing him to feel only the deep love and affection she had been unable to express to him since he had closed himself off. His heart had so suddenly and so heavily been laden with guilt in the span of only a few minutes as they talked, but she was doing everything in her power to reverse it...

Comforted even more by her touch and her efforts he still couldn't fully grasp, he kept his eyes closed as his breathing slowed to a restful pattern, but his voice, while quiet, was sharper than she had yet heard from him. "My mind hasn't been this clear...in a very long time."

With her hands still on each side of his face, she tilted his head down to her slightly, planting a soft, gentle kiss on his forehead. "I will help you with that, too."

But when she met his gaze again, his sadness and guilt had returned, dulling his voice as it trembled. "...how can I ask you to forgive me for what I've done? How could I _ever _make it up to you?"

Moved with overwhelming compassion, she took him up in an earnest, passionate kiss that she had withheld earlier, even though tears had again begun to stream from her eyes. She released him quickly, though, taking in a shaky breath as she looked back up into his eyes...

"Just...hold me."

Hesitating only a brief moment, he enveloped her in a tight embrace, easily draping the blanket that still hung around his shoulders over her, as well. She tucked her head under his chin as she wrapped her arms around his chest, holding her breath with the fear that a single sound from her would ruin the moment she had only imagined for months. Feeling his heart beating against hers, she focused on it, listening to its slow, even rhythm...but the more she paid attention to his physical state, the more she realized just how tired and weak he was from his own prolonged torment.

"You're exhausted," she whispered with care as she looked back up at him. "I can feel it."

He nodded faintly, longingly gazing at their bed behind her. "I haven't slept much." As she began to tug him back toward it, though, he glanced back out the balcony doors, gauging the early morning hour. The sky had lightened considerably during their lengthy discussion, almost reaching daybreak, and he shook his head to deny her intention. "I have meetings...later this morning..."

"Admiral Sokol can take your place and fill you in later," she bargained softly, continuing to pull him to the bed. But when he continued to resist, she held his gaze intently, making her tone more insistent yet still gentle. "Koril, you _need _rest. If you want me to help you find Deilia, you need to be able to focus. There's only so much you can force your mind to do without it being properly rested. Okay?"

Though he was reluctant to answer, she was able to bring him the rest of the way to their bed, sitting him down on his side of it. She again brought her hand up to his face, caressing his cheek as he closed his eyes. With her touch, he seemed to give in, releasing a long, heavy breath as he lay back onto the pillows with the blanket still wrapped around him. Looking forward to sleep herself, she forewent changing out of her Jedi traveling robes, save for kicking off her boots and removing her utility belt. Settling her lightsaber on her small bedside table as she had done for years out of habit, she, too, climbed into bed, laying next to him on her side to face him.

Once again, she read nothing but fear in his eyes, and though she had an idea why, she patiently waited for him to speak.

"...you'll still be here when I wake up?"

Despite feeling the weight of her own fatigue, she smiled wanly and nodded, lightly tracing the side of his face with her fingertips. "I'll be right here, I promise."

Seeming to accept her pledge, he relaxed only slightly, though still holding her gaze. Another lengthy silence between them found her almost asleep...

"I love you."

Having waited an untold number of months to hear those words from him, her eyes teared up in long-awaited elation as she moved even closer against him, leaning over him to kiss him sweetly once more. "I love you, too." As she gently settled her head on his shoulder, she sent a short message through the Force to Mand before she delicately lulled her husband and herself into an easy, peaceful sleep they both so desperately needed.

* * *

Though just downstairs in the Manor's banquet hall for breakfast with the rest of the staff, Mand's thoughts were far from focused on anything within its walls until Elena's silent message reached her, startling her out of her reverie just enough to elicit a subtle gasp.

Just about to eat another bite of his breakfast as he sat beside her, Rech took notice. "Mand?"

Looking over at him, Mand smiled broadly with relief. "They're okay."

A warm smile spread across his face, as well, as he nodded, understanding her meaning. "Good." He let go of a long sigh to release his tension that had been building since Elena had returned, but sitting on the other side of him, Cordira earned his attention once more. "Don't play with your food, Cordira. If you don't like it, you can get something else."

Almost five and a half and already developing quite an attitude, the girl took another bite, doing so dramatically and grudgingly. Just next to her, Derek watched her carefully and laughed heartily at her antics, mimicking her with even more exaggerated gestures and chomping sounds. Across the table from him with Dirani seated on her lap, Kollie gave him a stern look.

"Derek, we are not rude at the table. You eat politely, or you won't get any playtime after school today."

Saddened and embarrassed by getting in trouble, Derek shrank in his seat, looking down into his lap. "Yes, Kollie."

Cordira began to look triumphant for escaping possible punishment from her nanny, but as she turned back to Rech, he gazed down at her with an equally harsh look.

"That goes for you, too, young lady."

Soured, as well, Cordira replaced her utensils on the table, crossing her arms in a huff. Before Rech could scold her again, though, she left her seat, tossing her long, braided fire-red hair behind her as she headed toward the main atrium with Derek close in tow. "I'm ready for school!"

Frustrated with her, Rech began to stand to follow Cordira, but Mand gripped his arm before he got up, shaking her head. "She's tired, Rech. She's suffered just as much as he has through all this."

Though he seemed to agree as he returned to his plate, he sighed irritatedly. "I'm tired of her attitude. If it keeps up much longer..."

"It'll get better," she reassured him with a gentle squeeze of his arm. She kept her expression hopeful and pleasant, hoping to ease his anxiety, and he did eventually calm. Helping Dirani to finish her breakfast, Kollie stood from the table and kindly excused herself, chasing after the older two to begin their day. Rech watched her with the three children briefly, but as he returned to Mand, he furrowed his brows, seeming to have picked up on some hint...

"Something's different about you."

Surprised by his statement, she felt a flutter low in her abdomen, and she wasn't entirely sure it was just nerves. She kept her expression neutral, though, curious what had caught his attention. He couldn't have figured it out yet, could he? She was only just starting to show...

"You've hardly been here all morning. Your mind's somewhere else entirely."

Thankful for the chance to avoid questions concerning her health, she nodded, smiling as she let go of a slow breath. "I'm sorry, I've just been running through the past couple years. Master Lithess will be arriving later today. I've asked him to take Ri to Coruscant...so she can build her lightsaber."

Rech considered it a moment. "You think her training is complete?"

"Not entirely, but I do believe that she's progressed enough...that it's time for the next step."

With only brief hesitance, he nodded and smiled in agreement, his eyes beaming with pride for both of them. He stood from his seat and leaned over to kiss her sweetly before he left. "I should get to the Medical Center; they're expecting me for the first shift. I'll see you later tonight."

As he walked away, she anxiously placed her hand atop her stomach, deciding she would finally tell him later that night.


	6. Chapter 6

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Rys'tihn Manor  
5.4 APC_

Though they had only gotten a few precious hours of rest, Elena slowly woke from her light slumber, her head still on Koril's shoulder just as they had fallen asleep together. She watched him carefully for a few moments, though, making sure he remained asleep. His heart rate was slow and steady as she wrapped herself in the moment, cherishing the feeling of his heart beating softly in her ear and under her palm resting atop his chest. He hadn't moved at all from his original position, and she was elated to sense that his mind had remained at peace, even in sleep. Her mere presence at his side was enough of an influence on his mood and his spirit that she hardly had to do anything else but lay beside him, and as much as she couldn't bear to disturb his tranquility, she needed some time with her own thoughts.

Before she moved, she gently extended her consciousness in the Force to his mind, using the calming effect she had on him to deepen his state of sleep and ensure that he wouldn't wake when she left. As a quick test, she carefully eased herself closer to him, planting a light yet earnest kiss on his warm, slightly parted lips. She waited a few moments, watching him for any signs that he was waking, but when none came, she smiled sincerely as she hadn't been able to for a long time. Obviously he needed the rest, but despite her own fatigue, she was still able to recharge herself quickly, only requiring a brief meditation. She took painstaking care to move gracefully and slowly, desperate to refrain from jarring him as she got up from their bed. Thankfully he remained undisturbed, though, and looking down on him again, she let go of a deep sigh of relief, delicately reaching out to him in the Force once more.

_I'll be right here, I promise._

Though she wasn't sure how far she could go and maintain the connection between them, she didn't intend to leave him for long. The Manor was too busy with the staff and guards ambling about all day long, and even though it wasn't currently occupied by any Rys'tihns, the Retreat, too, was crawling with guards. Any other familiar places around Dalon would already have been swamped with civilians and officials alike by midday_, _severely limiting her choices for a place to find complete tranquility.

Except...the one place she hadn't visited for more than five years.

Without being entirely conscious of how she had arrived there or how long it had taken her, she found herself standing at the mouth of the Valley of the Royals, the deep, cavernous tomb where past Paneau monarchs and their families had been laid to rest for centuries. The Valley was far enough outside the main borders of the city that she could ignore the bustling activity of thousands of beings around it, affording her true solitude...even though her surroundings would possibly pain her and distract her more.

She had been secreted away to Hoth almost three years ago before spicers had assassinated Veon Banarecc, one of her closest friends and one of the first allies she had made on Paneau when she had arrived as a young Jedi Academy student. As the threat for further spicer attacks within the sector refused to wane, she had been denied the chance to even attend Veon's funeral, instead forced to remain hidden in order to protect her daughter before she was born. After returning home to Paneau with her newborn girl, she had focused on caring for Dirani, as well as for her husband who had seemingly suffered the loss of his Ghost Heir sister. Between the two of them, she had little time to herself before she accepted the mission to Montar, and she had yet to pay her last respects to Veon at his final resting place. It seemed as fitting a time as any while she could slip away mostly unnoticed for just a little while...

Two tall, armed, well-built Scepter Guards stood at attention on either side of her at the Valley's entrance, and though they were silent, she could feel their gazes on her, casually observing her. They must be part of a new visible guard presence at the city's Royal establishments, she surmised, reflecting the increased security Koril had enacted following the murder of the former king. She took in a slow, controlled breath, steeling herself for the deep emotions she was beginning to feel returning to her before she looked to one of the guards. Her voice shook despite her best efforts to control it.

"May I go inside?"

The guard nodded cordially, recognizing her as a Royal. "Of course, ma'am."

The Scepter Guards, a relatively new group formed specifically for protecting the young King Verojec, respected the inherent authority and honor the Royal Families of Paneau deserved. However, their mission was solely dedicated to Jec, just as the Edgepoint Squadron very nearly served the Rys'tihns exclusively. Only the Edgepoints and close Security Forces officer friends of Koril's addressed her as _m'lady_; though it had been two years, hearing _ma'am_ directed at her caught her off guard momentarily. She recovered quickly, though, nodding her thanks graciously as she descended the broad stone steps into the cavern's darkness.

The last time she had stepped foot in the Valley had been at Queen Tascit's funeral following the Dalon Palace collapse, and it felt to her like that had been an eternity ago. That whole month had been nothing but a painful blur in her memory, worsened by the realization that Elena herself had been so ineffectual in the aftermath. So much catastrophic death and destruction she hadn't experienced before had rendered her almost useless; in shock, she couldn't think long enough to decide how she could best put her talents to work, so she instead looked to others to lead the recovery efforts. She stayed at Koril's side after he had sustained grievous injuries in a rescue attempt, and even as the Paneau laid their Queen to rest, Elena had only participated as an observer.

After Veon's death, though, she hadn't even been on Paneau.

As she finally reached its lowest level, her heavy boots echoed through the vast tomb as light _clicks_ on the stone, joining a medley of subtle drips of water that fell at uneven intervals into small pools collecting about the floor. The Valley itself wasn't far removed from the Polu River, and she assumed that those same waters had carved the ancient cavern thousands of years before it had been diverted to its present course. But the air didn't smell...moldy, or rotten, like she would have expected a formation of such magnitude to, nevermind the fact that it served as a burial ground for an untold number of Paneau. Perhaps its atmosphere was carefully regulated to guard against just that.

Glowing orbs softly illuminated metallic plates attached to the walls of the cave, identifying the Royal entombed behind it. She passed a hundred or more Ordeels on her right, lined up in neat rows stretching from the floor to the ceiling a half kilometer above her head. They had been buried in sequence, and she could tell those high up in the darkness were still Ordeels because of the color of the lights; each Royal family was represented by a distinguishing color within the tomb. The Ordeels' plates glowed a quiet, pure emerald green, and just beside the green began a line of blue-lighted plates, indicating the transition of power and the beginning of the Gedall ruling line. Taking a few more steps further, the date she could read on the Gedall plate at her eye level was more than five hundred years old, and it was quickly followed by another transition nearby. Delicate fuchsia orbs continued down the wall of the cavern for the Ot'rio monarchs, and then -

"Elena?"

The young man's voice up ahead of her in the darkness startled a gasp out of her. Her eyes had already adjusted to the dim lighting, but she had been so inwardly focused, so intent on processing her own thoughts, she hadn't even sensed her company just meters away.

"Jec!" she breathed in alarm, fumbling for words in her surprise. "I - I didn't know you were down here! They didn't tell me -"

"It's okay," he answered, calmly shaking his head with a broad smile and a warm, friendly tone. "I wasn't going to stay much longer, anyway."

From a small, movable bench placed just in front of a row of amber lights, Jec stood as she stepped closer to him, and again, her breath caught in her chest. Though she had spoken with the young Banarecc king dozens of times during her time spent away from Paneau, it had been almost two years since she had seen him in person...or against a scale reference of any kind. The boy she had once known as young as seven years old, had seen grow up before her eyes as he took on the burdens of an entire planet at twelve, now easily towered a head taller than her, perhaps more; how could she have also missed his elongated, more defined facial features?

Her reaction must have been completely patent, making him blush as he shrugged. "I'll be eighteen next month, you know."

Though still recovering, she laughed lightly as she looked him over, a little surprised to see him dressed in one of his finest garments in such a damp, murky place. Precious amber jewels were sewn into his deep purple suit, and they decreased in size as they descended from his shoulders to his waist where a golden sash was tied, its ends gracefully hanging at his left side. He had worn a similar suit a few years ago to a benefit concert they had attended together, but despite his much lankier frame, he looked less like a young man and more like a true king...and the more she studied his face, the more of his father she saw in him.

She was unsure how his smile could be much bigger as he stepped even closer to her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I am so happy you're home."

Appreciating his warm hug, she returned it. "So am I. I was away far too long this time."

After he released her and stepped back, his smile remained. "Of all my advisers, you're the only one everyone missed while you were gone."

Elena laughed, certain he was exaggerating. "Even Aemon?"

But he nodded firmly. "Even Aemon."

Aemon Glorn was one of Jec's older advisers, and he was also one of the few holdovers from the previous king's staff. Aemon often disagreed with Jec's newer policies because of how they differed from Veon's, but he still remained a valuable link to his father's reign that Jec couldn't afford to lose.

Though she maintained her smile, too, she let it fade a bit as she continued. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll go -"

"Really, Elena," Jec pleaded, still grinning, "don't worry about it. I just come here every once in a while to talk to Dad."

As Jec turned to look at the wall beside them where golden lights were gently glowing atop Banarecc family plates, Elena's expression immediately faltered and fell though his remained the same. Her gaze followed his and found the plate with Veon's name, the last and most recent Royal buried in the Valley. Though she had momentarily been able to ignore it as she reunited with Jec unexpectedly, her heart was again heavy with grief and sadness as she stood before Veon's grave, the reality of his death paining her more than she had anticipated. Picking up on her distress, Jec gently pulled her to sit beside him on the bench, gracefully stooping to sit himself despite his awkward lankiness. He remained silent at her side, watching her a bit worriedly, but her cheeks flushed with embarrassment that she had reacted so transparently in front of him; his was not the company with which to share her sorrow.

Swallowing hard to force down her emotions, she kept her voice light. "What do you talk to him about?"

Without any hint of unease about the topic, he even smiled a bit as he shrugged. "A little bit of everything, really." He paused a moment, though, glancing to the side with a distant gaze. "Today was...different, though. Special."

Though she was curious, she didn't press any further for fear of delving too deeply into his personal matters he wasn't prepared to share. Jec had endured so many losses and disasters in his young life, yet his spirit remained so hopeful and happy; Elena didn't dare force him into any discussion that wasn't absolutely necessary.

He surprised her, though, as he continued without a prompt, smiling meekly as if he were reluctant to confess. "...in my head, I know that he's gone. I know that he can't answer me. But it still wouldn't feel right to me, and my heart would never rest...if I didn't get his approval first."

Almost afraid to ask what he meant, she waited, her brows furrowed as her breath frozen in her chest...

Closing his eyes briefly, his smile widened with bated exhilaration. "...I want to ask Seyiri to be my queen."

It would be several seconds before Elena finally breathed again, her smile matching his even though tears formed in her eyes. Seyiri Ordeel, a fellow Royal and longtime friend of Jec's, had been spending an increasing amount of time at the Banarecc Estate, which Elena had noticed even before taking on the Montar mission. The two had been close since their early schooldays at the Dalon Provincial Academy, and though they hadn't been public about a relationship, Elena had suspected for a while.

"Oh, Jec," she managed in between a hybrid laugh and happy sob, "I am _very _certain...that he wouldn't have objected at all."

Appreciating her confirmation, he nodded his thanks, looking to the floor with fond thoughts of her. "She'll be a good queen for Paneau. She's smart, and she knows how to keep the Business Board in line."

Elena barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes, grinning in agreement. Of all the new Royal Advisory Boards, the Business Board members had been the most...demanding recently for some reason. Seyiri's father, Kellan Ordeel remained the board's leader, as he had been since Jec had taken the Crown almost five years ago, but it was Seyiri's voice they heeded most consistently. Though Elena hadn't seen her for two years, the girl had most certainly become a beautiful young woman, if the completely captivated look on Jec's face was any indication.

Still so excited about the news, Elena beamed with pride at him, her eyes glistening with unshed happy tears. As Jec looked up at her and met her gaze once more, he smiled shyly with surprise, not expecting her reaction. She simply shook her head, unable to blink without forcing a tear to fall.

"You have grown up so much... I can hardly believe it. Eighteen is not possible." She paused with a light laugh. "Do you know how old that makes _me_?"

Jec laughed, too. "You're not old. We're not _that _far apart in age."

Her smile remained. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Suddenly stumped by her question, he shrugged apologetically. "No, I don't think so."

"I do," she continued affectionately. "I'll never forget it." She took a moment to prepare her thoughts, recalling the day as clearly as if it had been yesterday...

"I had hardly been on Paneau more than four standard hours. I had just recited a memorized list of an insane number of supplies Veon had promised to the Jedi Academy. _Poorly _recited. At fifteen, I wasn't much of anything, nowhere near Jedi material. I pretty much could have just asked for the supplies and left within a half hour, having failed one less mission. But Veon showed an interest in me for some reason I still can't fathom. And then, just as we were almost finished...in run these two little kids, chasing each other."

Remembering, as well, Jec smiled, shaking his head with a laugh. "Li had taken my pet ruki, and I was trying to make her give it back. She didn't think I was going to follow her into Dad's meeting room..."

Elena grinned. "He was deeply embarrassed, but it made me laugh. It reminded me of how my younger brother used to do the same thing to me." She paused again, her tone becoming more somber. "I might not have had a reason to stay if you hadn't followed her."

Though she hadn't been explicit, he understood her meaning. Not long after the two siblings had interrupted Elena's meeting with Veon, the Huxnel Invasion had begun. Had she not seen her brother and herself in them, she might have left Paneau to its fate.

Jec's smile, while appreciative, was muted. "I'm glad you stayed."

She nodded. "I am, too."

Without intending to, her gaze found the two plates on the wall above Veon's belonging to Li and Tascit, bringing back even more memories of the Banarecc family when she had first met them all more than ten years ago...

"How is Koril?"

The abrupt change in topic was actually a welcome one, even though it saddened her a little. At least it brought her back to the present, however more painful it might be.

"He's...better. I've helped him some, but...we still have a lot to work on."

Jec seemed to consider her answer carefully as he studied her pensive expression, continuing quietly only after a long, heavy silence between them. "He never neglected his duties, Elena. He may not have been terribly...talkative, but Paneau itself was never compromised."

She maintained her gaze on the rocky floor in front of her, desperate to keep her voice from breaking with emotion. "That is...a relief to hear, especially from you."

"I don't want to see him like that again, though."

The tone in Jec's voice wasn't one of condemning authority; he spoke only out of genuine concern, worried about his friend who hadn't been himself for a long time. Finally looking up at him, Elena nodded strongly once more.

"He'll get better. With some sleep, some meditation...he'll be back up to speed in a few days."

Jec's expression lightened, and he even smiled again as their conversation lulled in the quiet cavern. He seemed content enough with her assertion, even though she couldn't promise him it wouldn't happen a second time. As she reached out to Koril to test how their connection had fared over the distance...she recognized the signs of his stirring consciousness. He was still asleep, but he would soon be waking up, and she needed to be at his side when he did.

"I'd better get back to him," she told Jec quietly as she stood from the bench. "I left him sleeping, but you know how well he listens to me." He stood with her, still smiling as he extended his hand toward the staircase behind them.

"I'll walk with you to the top."

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_  
_Surgical Suite 23-A4_

The cold, sterile smell of the surgical suite was nothing new to Rech. Though he was properly scrubbed in for the procedure, he was only present as a precaution. In the center of the room, the young woman under Dr. Paduri's skilled hands had a bleeding disorder, so as the surgeon deftly repaired the woman's torn intestines after a landspeeder accident, Rech watched quietly as he carefully remained out of the way. He was a decent enough Jedi Healer that he could have repaired the tears himself, but he didn't mind his position. He could work almost anywhere around the city, not just at the main Med Center, and he was rarely tied to one place for long, going wherever he was needed most.

On this rare occasion, though, he had spent almost all of his day at Dalon's central hospital, where the majority of the trauma cases in the surrounding area were sent. Only aware of the day's late hour by the chrono on the wall, he knew his shift would be up as soon as Dr. Paduri's procedure was completed. He was maybe just a standard hour from returning home, and though the day had been long, he was very much looking forward to seeing his wife.

Dr. Paduri was casually chatting with his nurses on either side of him, indicating to Rech how confident the surgeon remained after having already been working on the young woman for more than an hour. He was one of the most experienced and most respected among the trauma team, and unlike some of the other doctors, Paduri actually encouraged Rech's participation, even in the simplest of procedures. Some felt intimidated by Rech's ability to save their patients without any formal medical training like what they had gone through, but he understood their reservations and honored their wishes. He at least had a good friend in Dr. Paduri and a few others.

Still observing the procedure, he almost hadn't noticed that a new nurse had stepped in hastily, holding a loose mask over her face without tying it. When her gaze searched for him instead of Dr. Paduri, he stepped closer to her, anticipating being called elsewhere.

"Mr. Natiyr," she spoke quickly, "your wife is downstairs."

A little relieved it wasn't an urgent need, he nodded. "Tell her I'll be down to see her once this last procedure's finished."

Rech had begun to return to his previous stance, but the nurse continued with insistence.

"No, Sir, you don't understand... She was brought in a few minutes ago. She's being _admitted_."

Stunned, Rech looked back at the nurse, unsure that he had heard her correctly. "...what?" He could only see her eyes over the mask she held in place over her nose and mouth, and she seemed reluctant to repeat what she had said, her worry well apparent in her gaze. At a complete loss for words, Rech turned to Dr. Paduri, meeting his concerned gaze, as well.

"Go on," Paduri instructed sympathetically with a steady nod. "We're almost done here."

Hardly able to nod his thanks for his dismissal, Rech left with the nurse numbly, stripping his own mask off his face in shock as they made their way to the ground level.


	7. Chapter 7

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Medical Center  
5.4 APC_

Rech hadn't even given Major Jax a chance to stand from his seat in the hall before he swiftly passed him and charged into Mand's room, demanding answers as he waded through the other medics around her.

"What happened!"

Though she wasn't completely unconscious, Rech quickly realized she wasn't entirely lucid, either. Her half-open eyes slowly tracked from side to side, seeming to lethargically follow the activity around her, but she remained silent as a nurse hastily strapped a breath mask over her face.

"We - we had just gotten seated for dinner in the banquet hall," Jax tried to answer Rech over the chaotic atmosphere in the room, "but when she tried to talk, she...only spoke nonsense... They weren't even words, just gibberish -"

"I want a full work-up," the lead doctor ordered over Jax, "and turn the oxygen up to maximum; her levels are dangerously low."

As he scooped up her hand at her side with a sense of dread, Rech was beginning to feel that the scene was all too familiar...

A nurse quickly shooed Jax out of the room and shut the door behind him as they continued busily working on Mand around Rech, setting up monitors and displays about her. Hoping to learn something faster than their tests could tell him, Rech gently placed his palm against her forehead, closing his eyes to concentrate as he sent tendrils of the Force through her. He immediately noticed how sluggish her mind was, and it had been years since he had felt anything like it from her...

His efforts must have allowed her to recognize his presence. Through the breath mask over her mouth, he heard her lightly speak his name, but the remainder was too muffled to understand. He carefully lifted the mask off her and set it to the side, leaning closely over her to listen to her soft words that were hardly audible.

"...we have to...find him..."

Perplexed but cautiously optimistic, he gently stroked her hair back from her forehead, looking into her eyes with deep concern. "Find who, Mand? What are you talking about?"

But she wasn't as coherent as he had hoped, seeming to ignore his question. "He...needs our help..."

"Who, Mand?"

Her voice was even more distant. "...Zev."

While working under her alias Killian R'Daw as an operative for the Huxnel, she had come to believe a fellow agent named Zev was her older brother. After the failed Huxnel Invasion more than ten years ago, he had been incarcerated for life after being framed for the deaths of New Republic guards and for his crimes committed with the group, and Mand had left him far behind with the rest of her false past. It was a name Rech hadn't heard or even thought of in years, and he desperately hoped that he had heard her wrong. The more he thought about it, though, the more things were slowly starting to make sense; her lengthy fatigue, her sudden inability to form words, and now her lapse into memories more than six years old were all the same symptoms that had preceded a difficult episode just after they learned that she was...

Stunned for a brief moment in both realization and disbelief, he turned back to the nurses still working on Mand. "Get her an iron supplement, highest allowable dosage."

One nurse stopped, looking puzzled. "Sir?"

"She's severely anemic. Her entire body is...starving..."

In order to alleviate the stress on her system, he put her into a light, Force-induced sleep, in complete denial of her condition as the nurse complied. Looking up to the room's window for the first time, he saw Jax standing out in the hall beside Koril and a few guards that must have accompanied them from the Manor, but no Elena. A brief pang of worry gripped his stomach as he wondered if something else had happened, and with Mand comfortably sleeping for the time being, he stood from her and stepped outside the room, allowing the nurses to continue their work.

"Is she going to be alright?"

The amount of concern in Koril's voice and in his expression caught Rech off guard for a moment, having grown accustomed to his emotionless tone over the months. Though he was glad to finally see Koril in better form, he took a quick glance back inside at Mand and breathed shakily to answer him. "For now. Where's Elena?"

Both Koril and Jax looked reluctant to answer.

"She's...still at the Manor," Koril returned carefully. "Cordira became inconsolable once we realized that something was wrong with Mand. Cordira wouldn't let go of her; she was terrified, screaming... Elena stayed behind to try to calm her."

Rech's heart wrenched into a searing knot. He knew very well how difficult Cordira could be when she unwittingly experienced the same pain or horrors Mand did, but why had she reacted so dramatically to it this time?

"Rech," Koril continued quietly, "...what's wrong with Mand?"

Again looking back in on her as she remained asleep despite the medical team busily working around her, Rech spoke before he intended to. "I don't know - I mean..." He brought his hand up to rub his forehead, fighting through his denial. "The last time all this happened..._exactly _like this...she was pregnant with Cordira."

Both Koril's and Jax's expressions lightened slightly, but when Rech remained silent, they became somber again.

"Is she...?"

Rech had to look down and away from Koril, hardly able to answer him. "...she never told me."

Jax's hand gripping his shoulder brought his gaze back up to the major, still somewhat unused to Jax's unofficial manner. "You two have been through a lot recently... She might've been afraid to."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Jax was probably right. The three miscarriages had worn her down substantially, physically and emotionally, to the point where Rech had almost asked that they stop trying. For the last two, the preemptive treatment they had tried hadn't lessened her body's drastic reaction to the tiny lives, but sadly had the opposite effect instead. They had decided on a more conservative approach with her next pregnancy, but she hadn't even informed him...

"Mr. Natiyr?"

Shedding Jax's grip, Rech quickly whirled around to face the young doctor, a relatively new resident he hadn't worked with before.

"She's stabilizing," the doctor reported with relief as he stepped up to them. "Her ox-sats are rising to normal levels. That supplement seems to have done the trick."

_For now_, Rech thought again, though he managed to keep it to himself. He began to ask a question, but the doctor continued before he could.

"I've requested that a team of prenatal specialists be on hand to monitor the twins while we try to determine the cause of her condition."

Air solidified in his chest in complete shock, preventing him from breathing and his heart from beating. Even if he hadn't been in denial, he couldn't have prepared himself for that. "..._twins_?"

Taken aback by Rech's reaction, the doctor fumbled with his datapad for the information. "Uh - y-yes...twin girls, about...14, 15 weeks. Well past the first trimester."

Rech's shock quickly shifted to confusion, though, as he looked back into the room at Mand, studying the quiet monitors around her. She was already into her fourth month? "But that doesn't make any sense," he said quietly to himself as he tried to process it all.

The doctor had been watching him carefully, though. "Sir?"

Returning to him, Rech nodded, coming back to his senses though still perplexed. "Thank you. I'll help with her treatment when I can."

Nodding, the doctor began to leave. "We'll be keeping a close watch on them all."

Though he wasn't conscious of it, Rech's lungs ached for a fresh breath, but he didn't breathe until Koril lightly gripped his shoulder, stepping up to his side. Rech couldn't look at his friend, though; still reeling from the news, he had to sit, feeling his legs beginning to weaken underneath him. Koril sat with him on the bench just outside Mand's room, but thankfully both he and Jax remained silent. He was feeling such a polarizing range of emotions, and he needed to process it all on his own.

It was a miracle that Mand was already so far along, after suffering three devastating miscarriages in the very early stages. He wanted to be happy, elated for the success, but every time he felt his heart beginning to flutter in excitement, the reality of her current state pierced through it. But why was she so suddenly ill in the first place?

After she had been kidnapped by a Dark Jedi more than ten years ago, they had rescued her and discovered her pregnancy with Cordira when it began causing her the same health problems. She was severely fatigued and anemic almost constantly, until a custom supplement had been created for her, replenishing her body with the nutrients she needed to survive. The girl, an altered clone of her mother, was especially taxing on Mand's system, hoarding so many vitamins and essential minerals that they were almost unable to reverse it or keep up with her demand. But surely it had been an unforeseen side effect of the experimental, altered cloning process, hadn't it? Why was Mand exhibiting the same symptoms with these two girls who definitely were not clones?

"Rech?"

He stood as Elena approached with a guard struggling to keep up with her. She looked with intense concern into Mand's room as she reached the group, but Rech was momentarily more worried about his distraught daughter.

"How's Cordira?"

A bit surprised by his immediate attention on the girl, she hesitated briefly. "She's calmed...for now. Raen and Derek are trying to keep her...distracted."

Trying to not become exasperated, he pressed on. "Why was she so upset?"

Once again reluctant, she glanced at Koril standing at Rech's side, speaking softly. "She thinks her mother is dying." Again looking behind Rech into the room, she couldn't hide the latent fear in her eyes. "Is she?"

Rech shook his head, relieving her anxiety, but he still couldn't bring himself to say it, prompting Koril's quiet intervention.

"She's having twins."

Initially, Elena's expression brightened, but after considering the distressed look on his face, she, too, became confused, having followed the same process he had.

"Rech...it was like watching a memory happening again right in front of me. It played out the _exact _same way, even down to her asking about Zev, just like when you two had visited me on Hoth trying to escape Layna before Cordira was born. How can that be? I thought Mand's problems were all...because of Cordira?"

His mind overworked, he blanked. "I don't know." It was all he could think to say, though he knew Elena expected more from him. She seemed to sense his turmoil, though, and quieted, pulling him into a friendly hug instead. Her embrace focused him just enough to remember...Elena had been home less than a full day, earlier that morning Koril had only just been brought back to his senses for the first time in months, and the two of them had only gotten half of the rest they were in desperate need of.

"Go home, you two," Rech commanded softly as he stepped back from Elena. Predictably, she began to protest, but he continued before she could get very far. "There's nothing you need to be doing here at the moment. Besides, this is the last thing either of you need right now, more stress... I'll let you know what we find out or if anything changes, okay? Just, please...go rest."

Again, Elena began to say more, but another quick glance at Koril kept her quiet. She nodded reluctantly, squeezing Rech's arm to wordlessly communicate her support before leaving with Koril, Major Jax, and their guards. After he watched them disappear down another busy hallway in the med center, he felt the weight of worry heavily sagging his shoulders as he released a shaky breath. He silently returned to Mand's room, gently taking up her hand into his as he sat beside her and began calling on the Force to strengthen her deteriorating body.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Rys'tihn Manor_

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

Though they were both sitting on the same couch closely beside each other in their private living room, Koril only just heard Elena's soft whisper. Derek was sound asleep against her, his arms wrapped tightly, almost protectively around her neck, even in his slumber. Similarly, Koril cradled Dirani in his hold, the two-year-old girl snuggled tightly against his chest with fistfuls of his shirt in her tiny hands. It was already well into the night by the time he and Elena had returned to the Manor from the med center, but after all the activity following Mand's episode and Cordira's crying fit, neither of the Rys'tihn children had gone to bed willingly. It had taken another few hours for the two to finally fall asleep, and though it had come out of distressing circumstances, it was a sweet family moment they hadn't been able to share for a long time. And able to actually feel connected to his children as he hadn't for months, Koril savored even the quiet, his mind clear enough to hear Dirani's slow, deep breathing as she slept.

"Me, either," Koril answered just as softly.

Elena furrowed her brows in concern. "Koril..."

"I'm fine," he countered quickly, hinting at a lax, content smile. "Just being with you again...keeps me going."

Though she wasn't entirely pacified, she allowed herself to smile a little, too, reaching over with her free hand to his. She locked his fingers with hers, resting their hands atop her thigh as she looked back down on Derek sleeping awkwardly against her. Exhausted from his efforts to calm Cordira earlier, Derek had quickly fallen asleep in his mother's arms, comforted merely by her presence. Derek had suffered, too, in Elena's absence, and the boy couldn't have been happier to see her earlier that evening as he returned home from his school day.

Surprisingly, though, Dirani's reaction to Elena had been completely opposite of Derek's. In the care of their nannies Kollie and Raen almost since birth, Dirani had been only months old when Elena left for Montar, and to the young toddler, her mother was a stranger now. Dirani refused to allow Elena to hold her or get close to her, seemingly afraid of her, and Koril could tell how much it hurt his wife. Dirani remained comfortable enough with him, though, even despite his emotional distance over the months, a fact that kept him focused as he continued to recover. He remained confident that the two would reconnect eventually, but for now, he enjoyed her affections.

It seemed like another hour went by as Koril watched the two children sleep, though neither he nor Elena had tired. He began to suggest they put the two to bed, but an urgent beep from his comlink stopped him. It sat with his other effects on a table across the room, but he didn't have the heart to wake Dirani to retrieve it.

"Kaydee," he whispered, hoping the protocol droid's auditory sensors would pick it up, even though she was around the corner from them. Dutifully, though, Kaydee stepped into the room after a moment, politely remaining silent as she awaited instructions from him.

"My comlink. Take the message."

Accepting the task with a bow as she always did, Kaydee obeyed, taking the comlink with her to a separate, enclosed room so as to not disturb them while she answered on Koril's behalf.

Elena looked worried as she spoke softly. "What if it's about Mand?"

Koril could only shake his head in uncertainty as he slowly sighed, unsure what the message could be about. Either way, it apparently required his immediate attention since it had come through on his emergency channel.

Kaydee returned just a few minutes later, her servos making only faint whirring noises as she moved. "Master Koril," she addressed him with her quietest volume, "Commander Nyra Zsasso with Spaceport Control wishes to speak with you. She insists that it is most urgent."

He glanced at Elena warily, returning to Kaydee. "Did she say what it's about?"

"She reports that her pilots diverted a small ship that was headed here to the Manor, Master, and that within it, they discovered the painting stolen from the Rys'tihn Apartment on Coruscant, as well as its presumed thief. She requests your orders for the prisoner's transfer."

Having only just heard about the painting's theft from Major Jax earlier in the evening, he was anxious to learn who had been able to bypass the apartment's tight security so handily.

"Who's leading night guard tonight?"

"Major Anylya Tidesetter, Master."

Moving to stand as slowly and smoothly as he could with Dirani still cuddled against him, he continued with Kaydee. "Wake Major Jax, I want him with -"

"No, Koril," Elena interrupted quietly yet still with intensity. "Let him sleep. I'll go with you. I want to see who it was."

Nodding after a moment, he turned back to Kaydee. "Bring Kollie back up here to watch the children, and inform Major Tidesetter that we're leaving."

Again, Kaydee obliged, disappearing a different direction as Koril and Elena both took Dirani and Derek to their beds. Dirani was easy enough to settle into her own blankets without waking her, but Derek threatened to wake up as Elena gently eased his arms from around her neck. She began to rock him slightly, and thankfully he remained asleep as she tucked him into his bed on the other side of the room from Dirani's.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Spaceport Control Center_

The trip was arranged surprisingly quickly, but the tense silence between himself and Elena was slowly eating at him. He knew she was just focused, intent on finding out who had been able to get through their revamped security at the apartment, but her voice was just as comforting to hear. In the formal setting of the Spaceport Control Center, though, she remained a silent partner, walking beside her High Commander as they were escorted by a handful of guards to Commander Zsasso's office.

The Commander was a harsh woman Koril had known for years, and he was well aware of the heavy-handed way she ran the Spaceport and her crews under her. Considering their troubles over recent years, though, he was sure the right officer was in place; due to her diligence, their thief had been intercepted and soon would be brought to justice.

"High Commander," Zsasso greeted him firmly with a salute. Her only feature that gave her age away was a streak of gray hair that began at her left temple, creating a light line over her dark hair that was gathered at the back of her head in a tight braid. "Good evening. Do you confirm that this painting is your property that was stolen?"

Quickly getting down to business, she stepped over to the large painting resting against the wall behind her desk, watching him carefully for his reaction. Koril immediatley recognized it, remembering where it hung in the apartment's main gathering area. He nodded, earning a rare smile of pride and satisfaction from Zsasso.

"Then I have your thief in custody," she continued boldly. "Which detention center would you like for me to have him transferred to?"

Though he appreciated Zsasso's enthusiasm, he remained curious. "Have you interrogated him yet?"

"No, Sir, I didn't think that it was necessary, given the circumstances under which he was detained. I thought it best to leave that to the investigators of your choice."

"I want to talk to him first," he answered, glancing briefly at Elena. "I want to know what kind of criminal we're up against."

Despite seeming a bit disappointed that she wasn't receiving the praise she expected, Zsasso nodded. "Of course, Sir. This way."

Zsasso and her guards led them deeper into the center, finally reaching a series of interview rooms where one had been turned into a makeshift cell. Two guards stood outside it, two inside, and as Koril stepped up to its window to look in, he was quite surprised by the burglar's age...or rather, the lack thereof.

Sitting at the lone table in the room opposite one empty chair was a teenage boy with heavy binders connecting his wrists together. He looked nothing short of terrified, and the longer Koril studied him, the more he noticed that the boy also looked...familiar.


	8. Chapter 8

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Spaceport Control Center_

Koril blinked. "_This _is the criminal mastermind who broke into our apartment?"

Elena didn't think it was so hard to believe. It wasn't the first time they had been targeted by young criminals, but there was definitely something different about the boy sitting inside the small room. Commander Zsasso became slightly defensive, as if offended by Koril's dismissive tone.

"He had the painting in his possession, Sir! And his ship's nav computer placed him on Coruscant, even in the same sector as your residence, the night of the burglary!"

The look on Koril's face was difficult to decipher. Wariness was quickly changing into intense curiosity and contemplation, but Elena wasn't entirely sure why.

"I'm going to talk to him," Koril asserted again, seeming to dismiss Zsasso's concern again. He glanced at Elena only briefly before stepping into the room, and unsure if he was in the right frame of mind to conduct a proper interrogation, she followed him in, as did Commander Zsasso.

The boy shrank in his seat as the three entered, looking between them all with patent fear. He remained silent, though, watching Koril carefully as he sat in the chair facing him. Both Elena and Zsasso stayed to the periphery of the room, allowing Koril to do the talking.

"Do you know why you're here?" he began fairly blandly, but Elena maintained her gaze on the boy; he could hardly find his voice to answer, glancing nervously at Commander Zsasso. He looked terrified, as though he had never been in trouble with the law in his life.

"...they said I stole that painting...Sir."

"Did you?"

The boy shook his head cautiously. "...no, Sir, it was...it was given to me."

Though he had his back to her, Elena was sure Koril's expression reflected the same skepticism. "By whom?"

His anxiety intensified, delaying his response again as he shifted his wrists in the binders. "...I don't want to get her in trouble." He looked down and away from them all, seeming to recall a memory. "She was so nice to me..."

The tone of Koril's voice was almost...desperate? "_Who _gave you the painting?"

Again, the boy hesitated as his hands shook in his lap, his eyes sincerely remorseful for his forced betrayal. "Her name is...Dee. She's a friend..."

Seemingly stunned, Koril couldn't continue with another question, leaving the boy to add to his defense. "Look, she _gave _it to me, Sir... Did she steal it?"

Elena didn't make the connection until Koril glanced back at her with a bright, hopeful look in his eyes, and the realization made her gasp slightly.

"Not...exactly," Koril answered, his tone light as he returned to the boy. "Dee, what does she look like?"

Confused by his answer and subsequent question, he stammered briefly. "Uh - blond hair, brown eyes...about your age, Sir."

"My age," Koril repeated with a faint air of amusement in his voice. "And what about you? How old are you?"

Still perplexed by Koril's change in mood, the boy shrank even further in his seat. "Seventeen, Sir."

A brief silence was broken only by a soft breath from Koril that Elena suspected was a stifled laugh. She wasn't sure what was funny, but she listened intently to the boy's next answer.

"Why did Dee give you that painting?"

The question seemed painful for the teen to answer, but he did so obediently anyway. "My name is Garran Bolc, Sir, and my mother was Solienne Bolc. She was the artist who painted it. She painted a lot...but she died a few months ago. All her paintings that I had left burned in a fire that destroyed my home on Bakura. Dee was with me then, and she told me she would get another of my mom's paintings for me to keep so I could remember her. We went to Coruscant, and she came back with it late one night. Then...she sent me away. She programmed the ship's nav computer to get me here, and I was supposed to find Koril Rys'tihn when I landed."

"Well," Koril answered lightly, "you found him. I'm Koril Rys'tihn."

Garran's eyes lit up slightly, seemingly pleased to have achieved at least one small success, but he could only manage a weak smile as Zsasso cleared her throat disapprovingly.

"Commander Zsasso," Koril addressed her curtly as he turned to look back at her. "Please remove the binders from his wrists."

Zsasso stared incredulously. "But - High Commander! -"

"He has committed no crime," Koril interrupted her hastily. "His binders, please, Commander."

Though thoroughly embarrassed, Zsasso complied. "Yes, Sir..."

Garran carefully held his hands out to Zsasso as she approached him, still intimidated by the Commander though she made no further protests as she released the locks. With the binders loosened and removed, Garran rubbed the irritated skin over his wrists, watching Zsasso leave defeated. He still seemed so lost and scared, though, casting doubt in Elena's mind that he was as old as he said he was.

"I'm...I'm not in trouble anymore?"

"No, you're not," Koril returned kindly, settling Garran's anxiety somewhat. "Did Dee tell you why she sent you to me?"

Garran shook his head. "No. After the fire, she promised me that she would take care of me, at least until I didn't need her anymore. She did, for a while, anyway, but I don't know why I'm here now." He paused a moment, considering their earlier conversation. "You asked me what she looks like. Do you know her?"

Elena could hear the grin in Koril's voice. "I suppose you could say that." He straightened his posture, preparing to continue with a more focused tone. "I think Dee sent you here, Garran, because she wanted you to learn more about who you are, and where your mother came from. That painting Dee gave you? There are dozens more just like it here; Solienne created masterpieces for many of the Paneau Royal Families. In my own home, there are at least ten of them hanging on the walls."

Garran hardly withheld his surprise. "My mother's from here?"

"Yes, and she was quite famous some years ago."

"She loved painting so much," Garran continued fondly, though still trying to make sense of it all. "Such detailed, mountainous landscapes, and it looked like it could have been Bakuran terrain...except for one building or one ship I could tell didn't belong. She never explained it to me, just like she never told me about her past, where she was from. She refused to, kept it all secret..." Taking in a lengthy breath, he let it out just as slowly. "Wow."

Allowing Garran to settle into his new knowledge, Koril stood after a moment, motioning to one of the guards stationed beside the door. "Have one of the cooks bring him a hot meal from the tapcaf downstairs."

"Yes, High Commander," the guard acknowledged with a salute, leaving briskly to relay the order. Garran watched the guard go, returning to Koril with a curious expression; Elena's was just as inquisitive.

"You look a little hungry, so you'll have a nice meal soon. I'm going to step outside for just a moment, but I'll be right back, okay?"

Getting a bewildered nod from the teen, Koril turned to leave, placing a hand at the small of Elena's back to lead her outside with him. Once the door sealed behind them in the hallway, Elena had a hard time accepting the rapid turnaround.

"You're absolutely _certain _of that boy's innocence?"

Koril nodded, his expression becoming more serious as he spoke quietly. "A few months ago, after my...break, Cade told me he had sent Deilia with a mission when she was forced to leave. She was supposed to find a cousin of ours: seventeen, without any idea that he's related to us."

Elena blinked, arching her eyebrows. "He's a Rys'tihn?"

He suddenly couldn't restrain a smile. "Can't you see it?"

She looked back into the room at Garran and studied his face; though he had remained in his seat, he looked markedly happier with the promise of food. Perhaps that was why he seemed so young to her: she saw brief glimpses of her son Derek in him...

"Solienne?"

Koril shook his head. "No, she's not. I didn't piece it together until just now."

He remained silent to allow her to figure it out herself, watching her as she thought through it. If Solienne wasn't the Rys'tihn, then Garran's father was, and Koril's only male relative other than his late father was...

She only had to mouth his name, and Koril nodded, looking a bit surprised himself as he glanced in at Garran once more. "He has a lot to learn...and he needs a safe place to do it." Returning to Elena, he searched her eyes pleadingly, softening his voice. "We have more than enough room at the Manor..."

"No, Koril," she answered immediately to his disappointment. She tried to sound as sympathetic as possible, though, while still maintaining her position. "I understand that he's a Rys'tihn, that he's your cousin, but beyond that, we don't know anything about him. We don't know what kind of a person he really is. I don't want to take that risk with our children. And what about Rech and Mand? They don't need a stranger wandering about the Manor while they're facing such private difficulties... No, not right now."

Though he nodded in comprehension, she could still see the saddened look in his eyes, and it wearied her. She sighed quietly, knowing she needed to compromise somehow to keep his spirits up... "The Retreat, then. No one's staying there right now, and he could be well...monitored while he's there."

Returning a smile to his face, he nodded, leaning into her to give her a quick but earnest kiss to express his appreciation. "Thank you," he whispered, turning back to the room. "I'll go now, make the preparations there and make sure that Cade is...aware." He paused a moment, looking to her once more. "I know it's late, but would you stay with him and bring him to the Retreat once he's finished eating?"

Just glad to see him in better form and more like his old self, she nodded, earning another, yet more muted smile from him. With his hand on her back again, he led her back inside the room with him, stepping up to the teen who was still sitting in his seat.

"Garran," Koril addressed him kindly, "I'd like for you to meet my wife, Jedi Knight Elena Rys'tihn."

Garran's eyes widened in amazement, studying her up and down with fascination. "A _Jedi_? I've always heard stories, but I've never met one... It's an honor, ma'am!"

Though a bit surprised by his reaction, she nodded with a small, reserved smile. "It's nice to meet you, too, Garran."

Koril continued. "We have a place for you to stay, if you'd like."

Instead of expressing appreciation, Garran's eyes became fearful once more. "...here?"

"Well, not here in Spaceport Control," Koril answered with a grin, "but here on Paneau, yes. It's a quiet, secluded home where you can research your mother's background all you want without anyone to bother you."

Again, Garran looked pleased, allowing a small, hesitant smile. "...I'd like that."

Koril continued. "Elena will take you there when you're finished eating. I'm headed there now to prepare a room for you, but I'll meet you there, okay?"

Garran nodded again excitedly, his expression brightening once more. With a long glance at Elena and a discreet squeeze of her hand, Koril left, only allowing his apprehension to become visible on his face once he was sure neither of them could see it.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_

Though Rech hadn't even opened his eyes to look at a chrono since taking up vigil at Mand's side in the hospital room, he was very aware of how many hours had passed, judging by the increasing daylight he felt warming his back from the window behind him. He had kept Mand sleeping, allowing him to heal her frail system without interruption or protest from her, but he was rapidly approaching exhaustion. He hadn't slept, nor had he even taken a break since beginning his work on her, but he was beginning to feel his own body giving up before he was prepared to.

The doctors remained baffled by Mand's condition, unsure how to even begin treatment. They had done enough to keep her stabilized, and to keep the twins healthy, but they were still trying to determine what could be done to keep her system from fluctuating so wildly. He had helped her as much as he could for the time being, though, and as he released his hold over her, he could sense her consciousness returning. Positioning himself in her line of sight as she woke up, he watched her closely, waiting until she seemed more alert before speaking softly.

"Mand? Can you hear me?"

Her eyes were only slightly open, but she focused on him after a moment, nodding weakly. Her breathing was slow and shallow, even with the aid of a breath mask still over her face, but as he took up her hand at her side, he felt her fingers tighten around his. Though it made him smile with relief briefly, the longer he held her gaze, the heavier his heart felt under his grief and worry. His falling expression didn't appear to register with her, though, concerning him even more. She seemed so weak, and maybe she wasn't as lucid as he thought...

"What...happened..."

Surprised that she was able to enunciate well enough, he struggled to give her an answer. "You've...become very ill...just like before." His voice threatened to break or stop working entirely as he tried to continue. "Mand...why didn't you tell me?"

It was a question he had posed to her once before under entirely different circumstances, but the pain of her withheld secret cut him deeply just the same. They had confided so much in each other over their ten year relationship that hiding anything from her had never crossed his mind, but she had again chosen to suffer alone and in silence. Finally registering the meaning behind his question, her eyes saddened with remorse as she took in a sharp, albeit muted breath in realization.

"I was going to..."

His emotions battled fiercely within him, and he couldn't thwart it in time; anger was beginning to gain the upper hand. "When? Before or _after _you fell into a coma again?"

She seemed to expect his frustrated reaction, though, calmly shaking her head as she closed her eyes for a moment. "I had to be sure," she whispered lightly, all her remaining energy dissolving with her confession. "I couldn't _bear..._to see that...that devastated look on your face...in your eyes...a fourth time..."

So she had intentionally hidden her pregnancy from him, but only to spare him another painful loss? If she had miscarried again, she would have shouldered the sorrow and misery entirely on her own, denying him the chance to comfort her as he had each time previously. Though alleviating her grief had been incredibly taxing on him, he willingly gave everything he could, sharing himself within their deep connection without a second thought. He didn't know whether to be insulted...or thankful. Feeling his anger subsiding, though, he released a long, shaky breath, bringing her hand up to his lips as he held it with both of his.

"We're supposed to do this together," he somehow found the strength to say. "That's what Master Noor told you. How can we if you won't even..."

Again, it seemed like she wasn't entirely comprehending his words. "This one felt different, Rech...even from very early on..."

"Yeah, I'm sure twin girls _would _feel different."

Though it was difficult to tell through the breath mask, he thought he saw one corner of her mouth curl with the makings of a small smile. He didn't have time to reciprocate it, though, as a monitor behind her began sounding an alert warning of her falling ox-sats. Her stamina was deteriorating in earnest, but he shared what energy he could to keep her talking just a bit longer before the nurses arrived...

"Mand, you can't go on like this... We can't supply you with nutrients fast enough to replace what the twins are taking from you. It's unsustainable, and your health is so severely compromised right now...I don't even know where to begin or how to do the most good."

Her eyes closed as he spoke, and he wasn't sure she had heard him until she squeezed his hand. Her fingers were ice cold in his grip, a side effect of her rapidly worsening state, and though she made a concentrated effort to open her eyes back up, she could only speak through her thoughts.

_I can put myself in a trance, then. Suspend all of my systems except what the twins need from me. That way, whatever you give me will go straight to them, without my needs interfering. _

The look on his face had to be one of pure shock...maybe even horror. "Mand..."

_Please,_ she continued to plead. _They've come this far. We have to at least give them a chance to grow, and if this is what it takes...then I'll do it._

Did she even know what she was asking, what she was planning to do to herself? To even survive life outside of the womb, the twins would need at minimum another three to four months of healthy development, but how could that be achievable if Mand was already so deathly ill? How could she even ask him to consider endangering her life further than she already had? He shook his head strongly, running a dozen different scenarios through his head, all of them ending with tragedy...

_Please,_ she begged again with faint determination. _I can do this...with your help_.

His help? The best he had been able to do over the past few hours was keep her systems from crashing completely, a far cry from keeping her stable for a lengthy four months. He had no idea how to even go about maintaining her trance for that long, much less maintaining her health. He saw nothing but disaster in store, but...the desperate, pleading look in her eyes...

What an unbelievable test of his skills it would be, and of his patience, his endurance... She was willing to sacrifice herself, her time and her health, to nurture the tiny girls to viability, but could he stay at her side and watch her increasing frailty day after day? Could he help her support the twins that were going to slowly kill her? He wanted to harden his heart so he could tell her no and get his wife back, but something deep within him wouldn't allow it. Feeling the burning sting of reluctant tears forming, he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to look at her as hesitantly nodded.

_Then promise me...that you will do everything in your power...to save them...no matter what it means for me._

Defiant, he looked up at her and shook his head, not caring that hot, bitter tears rolled down his face. "No, Mand..."

But she remained adamant. _Promise me. _They _will be your priority, not me._

"Mand...don't."

More alarms beeped, indicating her intensifying decline, but she held out, managing to hold his gaze. _Promise me._

How dare she demand such an agreement out of him! After what she had put him through in the past few hours, she had the audacity to force him to care for the two tiniest lives that may not even advance far enough to birth, while at the same time ignoring her dwindling survival chances? Another round of shrill, piercing alarms, adding to the cacophony and chaos in his own tormented mind...

"Okay!" he finally broke and gave in, his voice weak with grief. "Okay... I promise." Still in complete disbelief about it all, he could only watch in paralyzed fear as her eyes slowly closed once more. One by one, the alarms all silenced themselves, and within minutes, her heartbeat and her breathing, both at subdued rates, were the only remaining signs of life from her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Spaceport Control Center  
5.4 APC_

Even though Garran had eaten modestly, seemingly still wary of his company, he finished his entire meal in complete silence, only making eye contact with Elena a few times. Perhaps she was putting off a less friendly aura than Koril had, but she simply wanted to stay cautious. Having a complete stranger dumped on them, even if it had been Deilia's doing, still didn't sit well with her, especially with everything else going on. What was she to expect from this long-lost Rys'tihn, if he really was a Rys'tihn?

After carefully placing his utensils on his plate, Garran looked up at her expectantly, remaining silently patient. It was like he was eagerly awaiting an order from her, already respecting her implied authority over him. She felt a bit awkward in the position he was putting her in, unsure how to treat him. His innocence was refreshing, but she determinedly kept her guard up.

"Were your belongings left in your ship, or did the guards bring it with you when you were escorted here?"

Garran shrugged apologetically. "I don't know. I just have one bag, ma'am." After a moment, he added sadly, "...it's all I have left."

Struck by his vulnerability, she studied him for a moment, wondering what he meant. He had said earlier that his mother's paintings had all been destroyed in a fire that claimed his home, and she realized he must have lost everything else with it. He had _nothing _except for whatever was in his bag and the painting Deilia had given to him, and he was entirely at their mercy now. Elena could feel her defenses lowering with sympathy.

Startling her, a guard stepped into the room, placing a bag on the table in front of Garran. "His effects, m'lady," he said, apparently having listened to their conversation. "It was searched thoroughly, and nothing dangerous or suspicious was found."

Elena nodded to dismiss the guard, and she watched Garran closely as he tore through the bag's contents anxiously once the guard left the room. Finally pulling an object from it, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, clutching it tightly in both hands. "Good, it's still here..."

She hadn't intended to pry, but Garran interpreted her intensely curious look as a demand for an explanation. He complied and shyly extended his hand, holding out a marbled green stone to her. It didn't take her long to recognize it.

"It was my mom's. It was the only thing I was able to save from the fire."

Stepping closer to him, she looked it over in his palm, unwilling to take it from him knowing how much he cherished it. "Do you know what this is, Garran?"

He shook his head as he brushed his thumb over its delicately carved surface; he probably already had all its grooves and details memorized, she mused. He remained inquisitive, though, patiently waiting for her to continue. If only she could read all of the ancient Paneau script for him...

"It's called a Life Stone. It's a tradition here that a unique stone is created when a Paneau reaches an important milestone in their life. Sometimes the stones are cast into the rivers after a special ceremony, but some Paneau choose to keep them." As he flipped the stone over in his palm, she was at least able to decipher enough of the letters, and it brought a small smile to her face. "This one's yours."

Garran only furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

Her smile broadened as she traced her finger along the design. "See these carvings here? They're letters. In Paneau's ancient script, they spell your name: Garran."

The look of pure wonder on his face removed any remaining traces of hesitancy within her. She could so easily sense his unrestrained, unadulterated emotions, she felt compelled to give him all the answers she could. "It was probably made when you were born."

"I...I was born here? Does it say who my father is?"

She cringed mentally. At least...answers that wouldn't take more than a few words to explain. "I'm not sure," she feigned polite ignorance. "I'm not familiar enough with the letters to read it all. Maybe Koril can tell you later."

Satisfied with her answer and still in awe over the stone as he pocketed it for safe keeping, Garran nodded with a wide smile. "Okay."

As the door to the room opened unannounced, Major Jax stepped inside, though he quickly slowed to a halt as he focused on Garran. He, too, seemed surprised as he picked up on the familial resemblance, and Elena had to make a soft noise in the back of her throat to redirect his attention. Hopefully he understood the expression on her face that was silently asking him to not voice aloud his suspicions.

Blinking for a moment as if he had forgotten the reason for his visit, he finally found his voice. "Your transport is ready, m'lady, whenever you're prepared to leave."

She nodded, her eyes also expressing her thanks that he refrained from saying more. "I think we're ready now. Garran," she said as she stepped back from him, "this is Major Aurin Jax. He's a very good friend of mine, and you'll probably be seeing him around often." Though she wasn't surprised, Garran became noticeably worried at the mention of Jax's rank, watching the major with a hint of fear. "Major, this is Garran Bolc. He'll be our guest at the Retreat."

Recognizing Garran's unease, Jax gave him a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Garran. Don't worry; we're not all as..._uptight _as Commander Zsasso is. You won't have anything to worry about here."

Despite still seeming unsure even after glancing at Elena for reassurance, Garran nodded, his hand tightening around the straps of his bag still sitting on the table in front of him. He looked up to Elena again, his voice quiet. "Where are we going? A retreat?"

"Yes, but you can call it home for now."

Earning another small smile from him, he stood and slung his bag's straps over his shoulder, looking a bit nervous but still somewhat eager to leave. Jax signaled a guard escort inside, and with an encouraging smile from Elena, Garran followed them out, leaving Elena and Jax to bring up the rear. She was careful to keep her voice low enough to only be heard by Jax as they walked.

"You've been briefed, Major?"

Though quiet, too, Jax chose his answer carefully to be safe. "In so many words, m'lady. The High Commander was vague enough, but...I didn't believe it...until I saw him."

Elena withheld a heavier sigh. "I guess it was naive of me to expect that we had discovered all the secrets this family was hiding. Leave it to a Ghost Heir to come up with another one."

"Does he know?"

As Garran glanced back at them from up ahead, Elena gave him another smile that faded the instant he turned around. "No...he doesn't know yet."

"Understood, m'lady. He'll be monitored closely, I assure you."

With another anxious glance from Garran back toward them, Elena gripped Jax's arm in wordless gratitude before she swiftly caught up to the teen, walking alongside him as they made their way through the spaceport.

"It's alright, Garran," she reassured him with a kind smile. "You're not in trouble. I know it seems strange, but I almost always have guards with me."

He looked confused. "Guards protecting a Jedi?"

"Between you and me, they're really only there for show."

Having heard their conversation, one of the Royal Guards turned his head back to them slightly, but he walked on, and Elena winked at Garran to put him further at ease.

"The wife of the High Commander is rarely alone. The same goes for the members of the Royal Families."

Thinking for a moment, Garran furrowed his brows. "Are you a Royal, too?"

"Yes. The Rys'tihns are one of the six Royal Families here. But you can learn more about all that later. I want to know more about you."

Garran smiled sheepishly, unused to so much attention on him. "Me? There's not much to me." He pulled his bag forward, gesturing inside it to its minimal contents. "Obviously."

"Your possessions do not make you who you are, Garran. You are far more than what you own. Surely you have hobbies, talents, things that interest you...?"

As he considered her question, he looked genuinely perplexed. He shrugged after a moment, struggling to come up with an answer. "I...don't know. I haven't done anything that was just for me in a long time."

Confused herself, Elena focused on him intently, unsure how he could give her such a sad response. He was seventeen; how could he not have an answer for such a simple question?

"When I was younger, I would help my mom when she painted," he explained after seeing the look on her face. "I brought her tools she needed, food she forgot to eat... She even let me mix the paints a few times." He smiled with the fond recollection, but it dissolved as he continued. "And when she became too sick to paint...I took care of her...until the day she died." He shrugged again. "I had friends that lived down in the valley, and we played together all the time when we were kids, but...I couldn't leave Mom alone while she was so weak. She fought her illness for several years, and...I don't know. That was all I did; I helped her as much as I could."

Even though her body registered the movement as they boarded the small transport headed for the Retreat, Elena found herself lost in a haze of bewilderment. The boy had known little else besides his mother's company for seventeen years; she had been his entire world, and now that she was gone, he had to be so lost. He seemed to have bonded with Deilia well, so he was resilient enough to adjust, but he could also still be fragile enough to break with too many revelations. She would have to tell Koril to hold off on informing Garran of his father's identity and of his status as a Royal until he had enough time to process everything properly. And with everything there was to learn about Paneau...that could take some time.

"Elena? I mean...m'lady?"

Amused by his self-correction, she grinned at him beside her. "Please, call me Elena."

He relaxed a bit more, nodding. "Elena. Are you from Paneau?"

"No. I'm from Hoth, but how I ended up here is a very long story, longer than our trip will last, I'm afraid. Maybe some other time."

The transport had already been in the air for a few minutes, so he nodded, though he began to look anxious again. "So, what will I need to do at this retreat?"

Elena blinked. "Do?"

"Yeah, like cleaning, cooking, maintenance?"

Sitting across the hold from them, Major Jax arched his eyebrows as Elena realized what he meant. "No, Garran... We have a full staff for that. You're our _guest_. You don't need to do any of those things right now."

Though he still looked unsettled, he didn't protest further. "Okay...but I can still look up information on my mom, right?"

"Of course. You'll have access to just about every database we have available."

Garran nodded with a small smile, again satisfied for the time being as he sat back more comfortably into the bench. The silence between them didn't seem to bother him as he enjoyed the remainder of the ride, casually studying the transport's humble interior. His fascination with the ship made Elena wonder how many times he had actually traveled aboard any kind of spacecraft.

The engines gave a slow groan as they lowered the transport to the ground, and seemingly excited to see his accommodations, Garran swiftly descended the rear ramp once it opened. He stopped almost immediately, though, rendered breathless as he looked at the picturesque landscape surrounding them in the light of the morning's sunrise. The Rys'tihn Retreat was remote and isolated, situated in the distant foothills of the Naeron Mountains, the same range that bounded the city of Dalon a few hundred kilometers away. Only after Elena stepped up beside him did he find his voice to speak again.

"This..._this _was what my mother was painting...not Bakura. It's amazing."

Glad to see his delight, Elena gave him a warm smile, but as Koril and a member of the Retreat's staff approached, her expression fell to match Koril's look of serious concern.

"Garran, this is Witt Larkan," Koril introduced the older man beside him blandly. "He'll help get you settled inside. Elena and I have to return to Dalon, I'm sorry."

Understanding the gravity in Koril's tone, Garran nodded. "Okay. Thank you, both, for this," he continued with a small smile as he glanced between them. "I really appreciate it."

Koril released a slow breath, his expression lightening the slightest bit. "It's the least we can do."

As Garran gave them both a friendly wave and continued on into the Retreat with Larkan, Koril wasted little time, stepping up into the transport. Elena and Jax could barely keep up, only able to reach him once he took a seat in the main hold.

"The Manor," he instructed the pilot curtly, and as the transport took off once more, Elena took Koril's hand tightly and sat beside him. His brows creased together as he began answering her silent question, glancing across the hold at Jax seated opposite them. "Mand's condition only worsened overnight. Rech said she put herself in some kind of...hibernation trance so she can try to keep the twins healthy...at the expense of her own health."

Saddened by the news, Elena closed her eyes as she gently rested her head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand for support. His heart remained heavily burdened, though, prompting her to sit up from him and search his face with worry. "...there's something else?"

Though his voice had weakened considerably, the focus in his eyes sharpened dramatically. "Cade didn't know it was Deilia who had stolen the painting. He sent his covert agents after her... They're going to _kill _her."

Elena struggled to breathe. "For stealing a _painting_?"

"She got through so much of our security so cleanly, he thought she was too much of a security threat to allow to escape. He can't call them off, either; they're operating in a strict communications blackout until..." He paused only to tighten his hold around her hand. "You promised me you'd help me find her."

She didn't hesitate. "Yes, I will." Reaching up with her free hand, she gently placed her palm against the side of his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Rys'tihn Manor_

Though frustration was trying to claim him faster than his exhaustion, he fought through it, taking in a long, deep breath. "_Again_."

Sitting just in front of him on the floor, too, Elena squeezed his hands, raising her first objection since they had begun his intense meditation sessions three days earlier.

"Koril...I know how much you want to, but you _can't_ force this."

He kept his eyes closed, focusing himself inward, reaching within himself as she had directed countless times before...

"Most Jedi go through their entire lives without ever having a vision of _any _kind."

Find the connection he shared with Deilia, hold onto it, strengthen it...

"I've had two."

She could be anywhere in the galaxy, but he could tell he was getting closer to her each time, his senses reaching farther the more he tried...

"I know, but those were different. You weren't trying to find them; they came to you."

She was _just _out of his reach, so close he could hear her thoughts, so he pushed further, harder...

"What you're trying to do usually takes _years _of patient practice. I just don't want you to get burned out..."

_A smell. Burning, choking, smoldering...trapped, no escape...  
_

"I smell...a fire...a house burning..."

"...Koril?"

He could taste the ash in his mouth, feel the searing heat threatening to kiss his skin... Without warning, though, an intense, white-hot pain erupted on the left side of his neck, robbing him of the ability to breathe. It had been more than five years since the last time his body had registered any kind of pain, and he began shaking in shock. His skin was _burning_, but how, why? Elena's voice was so distant, yet he could hear and feel her worry. He suffered through the pain, though, desperately pushing it aside to learn everything he could from the vision. He brought his hand up to his neck, as if he could smother the scorching pain...but it was suddenly gone as quickly as it had come. With a bright flash, his mind cleared of the smoke and fire, and replacing it, he saw a twinkling, starry backdrop that was all too familiar.

_Coruscant_.

The subtle, swarming movements of the skylanes against the jagged outline of the sparkling buildings were almost mesmerizing, but it didn't last long. A heavy, foreboding darkness quickly consumed him, leaving his body weak and his consciousness filled only with a different kind of smell, one that he had come to know well years ago, and one that was definitely unique to the cityplanet. The stinging, acrid stench of rotting durasteel and other discarded trash was a harsh reminder of the savage Underlevels, and he even recognized the surrounding streets from the few years he spent there as a boy. Though he began to surface, leaving Coruscant far behind to return to himself, he still felt his body sagging under some kind of external weight, and he couldn't combat it. He knew he hadn't blacked out yet; he could still hear Elena's calm but concerned voice beside him.

"Easy, Koril, just lay back. I've got you..."

He felt her arm supporting him behind his shoulders, slowly lowering his upper body to the floor, and as expected, she pressed her fingers firmly into his neck to assess his condition.

"Your heart's racing," she informed him worriedly. "You've done too much."

He didn't agree. It was the most progress he had made, and though he had always felt their strong connection since he had saved Deilia from death two years ago, it had both just strengthened and weakened at the same time. What did that mean?

Finally coming out from under the haze enough to move, he opened his eyes, looking up at Elena knelt at his side. "She's...on Coruscant."

Elena frowned as she furrowed her brows. "She was when she stole the painting, yes, but I'm sure she didn't stay there. She would know better." She sighed lightly, watching him closely as he continued to improve. "I think you're seeing her past. That burning house was probably Garran's; she was there with him then. And she stole the painting more than a week ago, so that's -"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head. "She's there, now. I can feel it."

Elena looked unconvinced, if not decidedly skeptical. "How do you know?"

How could he put into words what he had just experienced? It was as though he had just been looking through Deilia's eyes, connected to her so closely... But then everything turned black, like something had caused her to faint. Could it have been his fault, or had something happened to her? A building sense of unease forced him to assume the latter, and he was beginning to believe that she was in imminent danger.

"She's _there_," he asserted once more, "and she's...wounded... I have to help her." He began to sit up, but Elena was quick to firmly press his shoulders back to the floor.

"No, rest," she demanded, her expression softening after a moment. "Even if she is on Coruscant...there's nothing you can do from here."

"I have contacts there, in my old neighborhood. They can find her."

Giving him another reluctant sigh, she nodded, though she kept a strong hand at his shoulder. "Okay, but please try to relax right now. You're too worked up. Meditation is supposed to do the opposite..."

He closed his eyes once more to comply, taking deliberately slow breaths for her sake. He had recovered from the vertigo and felt fine, but even if she was overreacting, he had nearly just blacked out. He felt her brush her fingers over his cheek, comforting him even more...until he realized how unusually warm her hand was.


	10. Chapter 10

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Medical Center  
5.4 APC_

Four days couldn't have felt any longer.

It wasn't the first time Rech had kept such a lengthy vigil beside someone he cared about, nor was it the longest effort he had made. After finding Koril comatose and close to death almost four years ago when the Huxnel virus had terrorized his systems for months, Rech had remained at his side for weeks, perhaps even a month or two as he recovered. If he was going to keep Mand _and _the twin girls alive...it was going to require much more than he was capable of, if these first few days were any indication. He wasn't strong enough to carry on with such intensity for much longer.

Though he was well aware how delicate and how personal of an ordeal this was, thankfully others seemed to respect their privacy, as well. The only people in and out of the room had been hospital personnel, nurses and doctors who were also doing what they could to help. Koril and Elena had only stopped by once, but they seemed to be preoccupied about something else entirely. If he was honest with himself, though, he almost preferred it; so much solitary time with Mand afforded him the ability to completely focus on her alone. As he leaned back in his seat, taking a momentary break from a lengthy healing session that had drained him, he glanced up at the window to see Major Jax solemnly looking in. Though exhausted, Rech gave him a small nod, inviting the major inside.

Just over two years ago, Jax's blaster wound to his shoulder had been a particularly difficult test of Rech's skills. In the final confrontation with Koril's former love, Brylie Herrell had landed a blaster bolt dangerously close to Jax's heart. Numerous bacta treatments had repaired his shoulder muscles damaged by the bolt, but they hadn't been able to reconnect the nerves that allowed him to feel or even move his left arm. Rech had to take over Jax's treatment because of its complexity and delicate nature, and over the week-long healing sessions, the two had become closer friends. Since Rech hadn't been back to the Manor after Mand had fallen so ill, he was glad to see another familiar face.

Jax entered softly, even making his footsteps light and almost unnoticeable. He glanced briefly at the monitors around Mand as he stood at her side, but they didn't give him the answer he sought. Looking to Rech with concern, he kept his voice quiet.

"How is she doing?"

Rech took in a slow breath, deciding how best to sum up the past four difficult days. "She's...up and down. She'll be fine for a few hours, then everything has to crash at once. I can't...keep her stable for very long." Though it was almost an afterthought, he continued with faint hope. "But the twins seem to be doing alright, as far as I can tell."

Jax's expression lightened a little. "At least there is that good news, Sir."

Rech nodded, though his own mood didn't improve much. "I just wish there was more I could do for her..."

Quieted for the moment, Jax looked down at Mand, his gaze briefly focusing on her swollen stomach that the blanket laying atop her magnified. He shook his head after a moment, seeming to clear his mind of some distant thought as he looked back up to Rech, his expression earnestly inquisitive. "Is there anything I can do for _you_? Anything I can bring you?"

Though he appreciated the major's offer, Rech had to decline. "No...I'm alright. The staff here is bringing me meals when I need them." Seeing the look of disappointment on Jax's face, Rech tried to be as gracious as he could, conveying his gratitude in his tone. "Thank you, Major."

Jax nodded in understanding, but he once again became somber, and Rech couldn't help but feel guilty for it. Straightening his posture in his chair, he hinted at a small smile before he spoke.

"How's your little girl?"

Expectedly, Jax smiled broadly at his question. It had been because of Rech's timely intervention that Jax had regained the use of and feeling in his left arm, just in time for him to hold his newborn daughter. Rech had also been on duty when Jax's wife Milowi went into labor, and he helped deliver the girl, placing her in her father's arm that he had healed. That sweet moment had further solidified their friendship, and Rech had been the girl's doctor almost exclusively over the past few years.

"Tavyna? She's doing really well," Jax beamed with pride. "Looking more like her mother every day. Of course," he added with a laugh, "she's also beginning to sound like her, too."

Rech had to laugh softly, as well. "I've noticed. She's definitely picking up on Milowi's aptitude for giving orders."

"Milowi's adamant that Tavy's getting it from me," Jax grinned, shaking his head. "I don't know why she would think that. I haven't given an original order in years. I'm usually just relaying something from High Commander Rys'tihn in one form or another..."

As Jax's expression fell once more, Rech worried the major had suddenly become insecure about his position as the Rys'tihn Manor's security chief. Jax noticed Rech's curiosity, though, and self-consciously corrected the look on his face as if he were intentionally clearing his thoughts. His expression had only changed as he mentioned Koril, leading Rech to believe that perhaps he regretted mentioning his superior because there was a problem he hadn't intended to bring up.

"...is there something else on your mind, Major?"

Glancing at Mand again, Jax remained silent for a long moment as he hesitated to answer. His reluctance concerned Rech even more, deepening his worry until Jax finally spoke.

"I'm not sure that I'm supposed to inform you yet, but given the situation, I think that as their friend, you should know." He paused a moment longer, heightening Rech's anxiety... "The High Commander and his wife...are expecting another child, as well. They were...apprehensive about it, afraid that it might be somewhat insensitive of them to tell you right now."

But Rech could only smile genuinely at the news, nodding. "No, it's good... I'm happy for them. I was worried their relationship was...troubled, but this is good."

Jax agreed. "It was one of the reasons they haven't visited much. They've been distracted with a new guest, as well, but I think this was a little more...emotional for them."

"Don't worry," Rech continued with a friendly grin. "I'll pretend to be surprised when they tell me."

"That would be appreciated."

Sensing that their conversation was drawing to a close, Rech leaned back in his seat again, his fatigue catching up with him once more. Jax understood the cue and nodded, making one last plea.

"Are you _sure _there's nothing I can do for you?" Rech shook his head nearly immediately, but Jax wasn't finished. "Would you like for me to arrange to have Cordira brought up here for a visit?"

An icy pang of fear in his chest dissolved any remaining trace of a grin, forcing him to return his gaze to his wife's nearly lifeless form. "No... I don't want her to see her mother like this."

"Not to see Mand," Jax corrected carefully. "To see you, Sir."

Looking back up at Jax, Rech took in and released a deep breath, considering it for a long moment. He hadn't seen his daughter in four days, and her innocent charm and sweet affection might be the only things that could recharge his waning spirits. He nodded hesitantly, sending Jax off with the task. As much as he didn't want to leave Mand's side, he would for Cordira's sake.

* * *

_Smoke... The taste of ash, the heat of flames...all over, burning every inch of her body... Her muscles ached intensely with every minute movement, making her gasp in pain the more she came to her senses..._

"Deilia, sweetheart, you have to _relax_..."

The voice was calm and faintly familiar, belonging to an older, soft-spoken Coruscanti woman she hadn't talked to in years...but the burning was getting worse, making her entire body shake -

"It's alright, Deilia, you're _safe_...but you are very ill, you _must _relax..."

Cool fingers brushed across her forehead, but the sensation faded quickly as the inferno on her skin continued. Though she felt weak and completely devoid of energy, she had to open her eyes, determine the source of the blaze...

The smoke was gone, and there was no trace of a fire anywhere. She was in a small, modest room with only the bed she was laying on and a chair beside her, low-lit but enough to see that the two of them were its only occupants. The older woman leaning over her had long, graying brown hair that was braided over her shoulder, and her kind hazel eyes, aged but still sharp, were watching her with concern. It was her friendly smile, though, that put Deilia at ease despite her discomfort...

"...Ceyelle?"

Her smile broadened. "I'm flattered you remembered me. It's been a few years since we last spoke. But that's for later; right now, you need to rest, please." Interpreting Deilia's confused look, Ceyelle continued more somberly. "Your wounds on your arm... They became infected, and the infection spread to your blood stream. You've become septic; you are fighting a body-wide infection, and I know this high fever you've spiked can't be pleasant... I have gotten some antibiotics into you, so you will get better, but you _must _rest."

In her hazy mind, she struggled to make sense of what Ceyelle was telling her...but she became even more concerned when she couldn't remember how she had ended up in Ceyelle's company in the first place.

"...how did you find me?"

Ceyelle hardly contained a laugh. "You practically collapsed on my doorstep, dear. I didn't have to go very far." Her expression fell after a silent moment, though, glancing at Deilia's arm at her side. "Your wounds... They got close enough to injure you, didn't they?"

Yes, her own covert agents had attacked her...but she had been able to outmaneuver them and stay just a step ahead of them for days afterward. She had dressed the gashes on her arm as best she could while on the run, but apparently they had gotten the better of her before she could escape the merciless cityplanet... Looking up to Ceyelle, a Banarecc covert agent herself, Deilia struggled to find her voice again. "You can't shelter me..."

But Ceyelle just smiled kindly again. "It's alright. I told you, you're safe. They can't find you here." A proud, impish grin quickly replaced her smile, though. "I made sure of that."

Deilia didn't want to know what Ceyelle had done to thwart her pursuers, regardless of how much she wanted to brag about it...but she had to know why.

"Why...why are you helping me?"

Again, Ceyelle's expression became more solemn, but the compassion in her eyes was unmistakable. "Because I, more than anyone else...know that look on your face."

A weak laugh caught in the back of her throat. "The look of a lowly exile..."

Ceyelle simply nodded. "Exactly."

Unsure what she meant, Deilia furrowed her brows and remained silent, prompting Ceyelle to continue.

"I know that look...because I wore it myself for a very long time. Thirteen years ago, I had a very different...yet very similar life. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age."

Deilia struggled to think back that far... Thirteen years, eight years prior to the Dalon Palace collapse... She was only sixteen years old herself, just beginning to take over heavier duties as the Rys'tihn Tyro Ghost Heir. That whole year had been difficult, both in her world and her Known Heirs'. Paneau's Queen Peri, Veon Banarecc's first wife and Jec and Li's mother, had died, causing considerable turmoil among all the Ghost Heirs. Deilia found herself handling even some of the Banarecc covert teams as the Master Ghost Heirs mobilized to exile one of their own...a Banarecc Royal, a woman who would be in her early fifties...

The realization made Deilia gasp as she looked up at Ceyelle, a Banarecc agent she had only worked with and spoken to sparingly, but...how had she failed to make the connection until now? It was presently so obvious to her as she had the chance to more closely examine the older woman's brown hair and hazel eyes...the resemblance was unmistakable.

In her shock, Deilia could barely force enough air from her chest to produce sound. "_Veomiin_..."

Likely hearing her real, given name for the first time in years, she nodded graciously, her shoulders sagging slightly in relief as if a heavy weight had been lifted from them. She seemed to be thanking Deilia with another kind smile for releasing her secret, but Deilia remained speechless, horrified that she had ignored such a blatant connection.

"I - I'm sorry, I...I didn't - "

But she shook her head to dismiss her regret. "It's alright, Deilia. You were supposed to forget me."

Veomiin had been the Banarecc Master Ghost Heir thirteen years ago when she had been exiled by her peers, replaced by her Tyro, Veolar. Deilia easily remembered the chaotic shuffle in the aftermath of Veomiin's departure, but honestly, she had hardly gotten acquainted with the Banarecc before she had been forced to leave...

"My exile was at my brother's command. Queen Peri's death had been my fault."

Deilia blinked. "I thought she died when her transport accidentally crashed?"

Veomiin shook her head sadly. "No. That was the story we told the Paneau who we knew would deeply mourn the loss of their Queen. But she had actually been poisoned at a dinner with Demmar dignitaries. The dinner's security had been solely my responsibility, and I had everything under control...except for the food." As she paused a moment, her expression saddened even more. "The hardest thing I've had to come to terms with was what we found out later: Peri wasn't even the target...one of the Demmar was. Their plates were switched at some point, and...Peri died within a few hours. There wasn't anything anyone could have done.

"Veon demanded my removal almost immediately, and I was sent away before Peri had even been laid to rest. I came here, altered my appearance and my accent as best I could, and...I waited out the storm." A bittersweet smile flashed across her face, but it was gone almost as soon as it had come. "Veon never did forgive me, and I understand... But I do wish I could have spoken to him, at least one last time, before he died."

Deilia knew that feeling well, having unknowingly sent her father to his death five years ago in the Dalon Palace collapse. She, too, was left without the chance to apologize, but how could she? And if the established punishment for a Known Heir's death was exile, why had saving her brother and her nephew's lives earned her banishment instead of her failure to protect her father three years prior?

Veomiin wouldn't have that answer; only the Ghost Heirs back on Paneau could explain it, but not that they would. There were other questions Deilia had for her, though.

"Thirteen years...is a long time. Hearts change."

Veomiin nodded with a wan smile. "Perhaps. Veon never knew about me, though, what I had become. About six years ago, Veolar contacted me, the first from home to do so since I had left. He needed my expertise, and he eventually expressed to me how much he wanted me back on the force. So I became Ceyelle, a covert agent for the Banareccs, stationed here on Coruscant exclusively. I'm one of the few under his direction who reports to him directly; I operate entirely on my own. It affords me a certain degree of...freedom that I didn't always have before." With a brief pause, she let go of a light sigh. "How fortunate that it also allowed me to be at just the right place at the right time to help you when you needed it most."

Instead of relief, an odd fear quickly took hold of her. "...does Veolar know I'm here?"

"No," Veomiin answered, grinning. "I never said I had to report _everything _to him. I still have some...tricks I never shared with him."

Finally able to feel more at ease, Deilia closed her eyes a moment and released a slow breath, attempting to gauge how much more time she'd need to recover. No longer feeling its fire, her fever seemed to be rapidly subsiding, and maybe it was already completely gone, thanks to the medication Veomiin had given her earlier. Her energy seemed to be slower to return, though, concerning her. If she was clear of her covert agents, though, did she need to stay on the move as much?

"You look like you're feeling a bit better already," Veomiin continued quietly, and Deilia nodded, looking back up at her.

"I don't think I'll stay much longer."

Gently pressing the back of her hand against Deilia's forehead, Veomiin was quick to protest. "You will get at least another full day's rest, and then...we'll talk some more."

Deilia blinked. "_Another _day? How long have I been here?"

Glancing up at a chrono on the wall beside them, Veomiin shrugged. "Oh, it's probably been about...a standard day since you blacked out. You're staying here until I say." Her insistence was...sincere, almost motherly, and Deilia didn't have the heart to oppose it. With a careful squeeze of her uninjured arm, Veomiin stood from Deilia's side. "Get some rest. I'll bring you something to eat in a bit."

As Veomiin left, Deilia sighed again, left alone with her thoughts. Though she was curious about what she had missed in the day she had been out, she began digging what she could from her foggy memory of what had happened to her the day before. She remembered feeling a haze descending on her as she walked through a particularly dangerous street, but something led her to believe it hadn't totally been the fault of her infection. It felt as though a singular voice was was trying to...reach her, reach out to her, pull her somewhere, but...was that possible? Or had it all been in her head?

Maybe she had actually been suffering more than she had realized, more delusional with her illness than she had believed herself to be. In either case, she couldn't feel the draw any longer; sleep was calling her instead, and knowing she was safe and comfortable for the time being, she quickly gave in.


	11. Chapter 11

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_  
_5.4 APC_

"...High Commander?"

As he began redressing himself, pulling his shirt sleeve over his arm, Koril hadn't even noticed that his personal medic Raval had begun asking him his routine daily questions. His thoughts were already elsewhere entirely. "Sorry, what?"

"Any falls today?"

"No."

Entering Koril's answer into the datapad in his hand as he did with each one, Raval continued. "Any heavy lifting?"

"No."

He'd been through the same interrogation day after day for months, enduring a number of tests and examinations every evening to check for injuries he might have sustained without his knowledge. It was a practice Elena had designed, and she had the Manor's staff put it into effect even while she was away on her mission to Montar. Though Koril had mostly been in a catatonic-like state through the majority of the early check ups, he could already recite the list of questions back to Raval from memory.

"Close proximity to a crowd?"

"No."

Of course, Raval jumbled the order of the questions each time to ensure an honest response, and sometimes he asked the same question again later on in the list if he suspected Koril's first answer was false. Each exam took less than half a standard hour, but already tired after a long day and little sleep the night before, Koril wasn't interested in making it any longer.

"I observed no bruises or cuts, and the scan found no fractures, so your physical exam passes. What about any dizziness or lightheadedness?"

"No."

"_Yes_."

Still sitting on the exam table, Koril didn't have to raise his gaze from the floor in front of him to know the look of disappointment Elena had on her face as she stepped into the room. He had hoped to evade her scrutiny, thinking she had remained occupied with putting their children to bed upstairs, but he should have known better.

Raval sounded confused. "M'lady?"

"He nearly blacked out last night."

Raval's reaction was just as Koril expected: shocked and slightly offended. "I - I wasn't informed of this!"

Elena sighed. "He was supposed to tell you...but I know him better than that."

Controlling his rising frustration, Koril looked up to Elena with a disappointed expression of his own. "I wasn't - ...it didn't have anything to do with me." Shifting his gaze back to Raval, he continued pleading his case. "It was something I experienced within the confines of a meditation, through a connection I share with...someone. I was experiencing the same thing they were; it only affected me for a moment."

Raval looked far from dissuaded as he shook his head. "I'll need to run a full battery of tests to make that determination. Please, lay back down on the table, High Commander."

Koril began to protest again, but Elena interrupted before he could say much. "He didn't tell you about the pain he felt, either, did he?"

He couldn't help but feel and look somewhat betrayed. "Elena..."

Raval nearly dropped his datapad in disbelief. "_Pain_, Sir? Where!"

Realizing he no longer had a choice but to give in, Koril heaved a tired, frustrated sigh as he swung his legs back up onto the table. Before Raval could lend his aid, Koril wordlessly fell back against the minimal pillow under his neck, turning his head and shedding the left sleeve of his shirt for the medic's inspection. "Left side of my neck."

As expected, Raval quickly tracked a small, handheld scanner over Koril's exposed skin, and though he still seemed deeply concerned, the alarm in his eyes had somewhat subsided with the scanner's readout. "It's not detecting any tissue damage. You said this happened last night? Are you still feeling any pain now? Any discomfort?"

Knowing Raval's thoroughness was only rooted in his High Commander's best interest and in maintaining his well-being, he withheld his irritation as best he could. "No, nothing. I told you, it didn't affect me for very long at all. As soon as I came out of the meditation last night, it was gone."

Still, Raval continued studying the scanner's screen, seemingly convinced it was defective. Interested in distracting the medic somewhat, Koril continued with a question of his own that had been on his mind since the night before. "Raval... If the Huxnel virus completely destroyed my nerves...how could I have felt such real, _intense _pain? My skin felt like it was on fire, but I don't understand... How is that even possible?"

Raval considered his thoughts for a moment before returning his attention to Koril, glancing at Elena briefly as he responded. "Yes, your nerves were destroyed, Sir, but it's likely that the pathways themselves were left intact." Unsure what he meant, Koril furrowed his brows, prompting Raval to continue explaining at a basic level. "When tissue is damaged, either by pressure, temperature, or trauma of some kind, the injured cells send out a chemical signal that nearby nerves have specific receptors for. When the receptors are full, they excite the nerve into sending an electrical charge to your brain, which then interprets the type of pain and its location.

"As far as I've been able to determine while studying the nerve biopsies we've taken from you, it seems that the Huxnel virus only affected your nerve receptors, leaving the rest of the nerve functional. So essentially, your nerves _could _still conduct a signal, but only with the influence of a stimulus other than the receptors. Ultimately, though, pain is perceived in the mind, Sir, and if your mind creates it, you'll feel it."

Appreciating the explanation, Koril nodded, even though he still wasn't sure that was what he had experienced the night before. He had felt Deilia's pain, he knew that much, but from across the galaxy? This new connection he shared with his twin sister was nothing short of baffling to his untrained senses.

Bringing Koril's attention back to his condition, Raval spoke up again, albeit rather reluctantly. "I'd...like to observe you overnight, High Commander. It's been so long since you've had any heart problems... I just want to be sure that I'm not missing anything."

Had Elena not been standing over him at his side, he might have declined, but for her sake he nodded, much to Raval's relief, as well.

"I'll gather my equipment," the medic said with a cordial nod to excuse himself from their company. Once Raval was out of sight, Koril closed his eyes, preparing himself for his wife's grievances...but they never came. Instead, her warm, soft hand caressed his cheek, nearly startling him. He looked back up at her to see only compassionate concern in her eyes instead of the frustration he expected. Holding his gaze, she let go of a slow breath before she spoke.

"You know I'm only worried about you... This isn't punishment."

He nodded after a moment, but he still had to make his feelings known. "I don't need to be monitored. I know why I almost blacked out last night." Earning Elena's curiosity, he continued. "I spoke with my contact on Coruscant just a few minutes ago... She found Deilia."

Initially, a relieved smile spread across her face at the news, but unsure how it related to what he had experienced, she awaited further explanation.

"She was...very sick. She had passed out from an infection that had taken hold of her. My contact found her and treated her before anyone else had figured out where she was or what had happened to her. She's safe, and she's going to be fine."

Pleased to hear his exiled sister's good fortune, Elena smiled again, squeezing his hand she was holding at his side. She remained silent for a while, thinking through all he had said, but something still seemed to be on her mind.

"So, what happened to you last night... That was Deilia falling unconscious?"

He nodded, but she wasn't finished. "Then...what about the burn? Deilia may have been injured in that house fire on Bakura...but that was weeks ago. Why would you have felt it last night?"

Flummoxed himself, he could only shake his head, leaving her curiosity unsatisfied. She quickly became concerned, though, as evidenced in her worried tone. "If it happens again -"

"_If _it happens again," he interrupted directly, "...we'll address it. It's long past now; we can't do anything about it."

Though she was hesitant to, she nodded in agreement, releasing another long, tired breath as she looked him over briefly. Her voice had softened considerably, perhaps tired by the late hour. "Is there anything you want me to bring you before Raval gets you set up here for the night?"

"No, I'm fine."

She gave his hand another gentle squeeze, but she abruptly turned and left his side wordlessly. He was unsure what to say as he watched her go, but as she stopped and began dragging a small chair back over to him, he became worried. "What are you doing?"

Positioning the chair at his side so he wouldn't have to strain his neck to see her, she sat and faced him with a small smile. "I'll stay here with you tonight."

But he shook his head immediately. "No, Elena... Sleep upstairs where you'll be comfortable and where you'll get good rest."

Though her smile remained, she, too, shook her head. "Koril, you know very well that I can sleep just about anywhere, and I don't need much sleep. I'm the reason you're stuck here, so...keeping you company is the least I can do."

Her presence would comfort him, even in his sleep, but he didn't want to cause her any unnecessary physical stress so early in her pregnancy if he could avoid it. Still, she had survived much worse, and she knew how to be cautious and how to keep from overexerting herself, so he had to trust her. "Are you sure?"

Her smile broadened a bit more as she nodded, gently taking up his hand in her hold again. The warmness of her skin still surprised him each time she touched him, reminding him constantly of what he considered her delicate condition. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, Koril," she laughed lightly at the irony. "I feel good. No problems."

Pacified at least somewhat, he lifted her hand up to his lips to kiss it softly, subtly expressing his appreciation for her presence beside him. She reciprocated by running her fingers through his hair, giving a contented sigh.

"Now, relax and rest before Raval gets back. I know you don't want him to find anything that would keep you here longer."

He agreed with a weak laugh, closing his eyes to draw in a deep breath, settling his nerves.

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountain range_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

Stepping down the shuttle's ramp with Major Jax at her side, Elena expected to be met by other Royal Guards from the Retreat...but the hangar was empty in the early morning sunlight. With a cautious glance at Jax, she continued on inside, her hand instinctively floating above her lightsaber hilt on her belt. Jax remained alert, as well, but as they approached the inner hallway leading into the Retreat, Cade Rys'tihn himself met them at the entrance.

The Rys'tihn Master Ghost Heir seemed relaxed, expecting to see them, but Elena remained wary. "Is everything alright here?"

Cade nodded, curious about her tone. "Yes; why do you ask?"

"I thought we had left more guards in place here a few days ago."

"They're here," Cade assured her quietly. "They're inside. I send them out to their posts once our...guest is up for the day."

Though she wasn't altogether surprised at Cade's deflection, she strongly doubted that Major Jax's presence at her side was the only reason he had refused to speak Garran's name aloud. As Cade turned and graciously invited her and Jax inside with him, he of course kept the conversation moving along in a completely different direction.

"How did Koril's tests turn out last night? Anything wrong?"

Of course, the resourceful Ghost Heir already knew the answer, but Elena responded nonchalantly, anyway. "No, everything came back normal. Whatever happened to him the night before seems to be an isolated incident."

Cade brought them through the main foyer to the Retreat's small control center, not allowing silence to linger between the three for long. "And what about you, Elena? Are you feeling alright?"

She could hardly refrain from rolling her eyes, but she nodded. "Yes, Cade, I'm fine. Thank you."

Cade acknowledged her answer with a preoccupied nod, his attention already focused on several security monitors situated around a central console. Elena carefully peered over his shoulder, observing the guard patrols at their posts about the Retreat, as Cade had said. But after a few moments, she realized that he was checking each monitor two and three times, intently searching them. Was something missing?

"Lt. Kagna," Cade addressed one of his guards into a comlink in his hand. "Has Garran left his room?"

Stationed in a long corridor Elena recognized as the bedroom floor, a guard answered her wrist link. "Yes, Sir. He was headed downstairs for some breakfast, left a few minutes ago."

Again Cade studied the monitors displaying the kitchen and banquet hall, but both were empty. He had lowered his comlink, but it wouldn't have picked up his low volume, anyway. "...so, where is he?"

Becoming concerned herself, Elena stepped up beside him, looking over the console quickly; she wasn't entirely familiar with the Retreat's new security. "Are there any other rooms these cameras don't see?"

"No," Cade answered , checking a number of hallway feeds. "All the rest are restric-"

Stopping himself midword with a sudden thought, Cade turned to another console and keyed in a code that brought up an intricate map...and a blinking red dot at the entrance to what looked to be a hallway. He stared in disbelief. "How..."

Unable to recognize the map, Elena remained alarmed. "...Cade?"

Looking at her directly for the first time since they had entered the Retreat, Cade lowered his voice even more. "He's in one of the lower tunnels."

Though unsure herself how Garran would have gotten into one, either, she knew she needed to investigate with Cade. She turned to Jax, keeping her expression calm for him. "Stay here, Major."

Jax nodded dutifully, and Elena could hardly keep up with Cade as he left, headed downstairs to one of the passageways out of the Retreat that should have only been accessed by Rys'tihn Family Crests...

After pulling his Crest up off his neck, Cade pressed it to a recessed panel in a nondescript wall on the main level. With a soft hiss, the wall split apart, opening to a dark, somewhat dirty descending staircase, and the Ghost Heir disappeared down into the darkness, already armed with a glowrod. Before Elena could ask Cade to proceed carefully, he had already found the boy a few paces ahead.

"How did you get down here!"

Startled by Cade's booming voice echoing through the stony corridor, Garran whirled around to face him, having to shield his eyes from the sudden light. He cowered, terrified and unable to form any words in response until he recognized Elena stepping up beside Cade.

"...Elena?"

She gave Cade a stern look for his harshness before she approached the teen, softening her voice and her expression to calm him. "Are you alright, Garran?"

Though still eying Cade with obvious fear, Garran nodded, swallowing hard to slow his rapid breathing. She gripped his shoulder to comfort him a bit more, and finally able to gather himself, he answered Cade's question. "I was just walking down the hallway, when the door opened right next to me...and I was curious... I'm sorry." After swallowing again, he continued. "...am I in trouble?"

"No, you're not in trouble," she soothed, briefly giving Cade another reprimanding look. "We were just...confused."

"Did your mother ever give you a necklace?"

Again startled by Cade's intense voice, Garran responded reluctantly. "No..."

"What about Deilia?"

"Deilia?" Garran looked confusedly between them both, his volume decreasing in fear. "You mean Dee? No, she only gave me that painting..."

"It looks like this," Elena offered gently, tugging her pendant out from under her shirt for Garran to see. He studied it a moment, but his expression didn't change.

"I've never seen anything like it before."

Cade's tone was almost desperate. "Do you have _anything_ of your mother's with you?"

Too scared to answer him, Garran looked to Elena for help. She gave him an encouraging nod, already aware what was in his possession that he was afraid to name. His hands shook as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the carved green stone, placing it in his palm as he held out his hand for Cade to see. "My Life Stone... It's all I have left from her."

The stunned look on Cade's face was all too telling; he knew exactly what it was...because he had seen it before.

Still, he swiftly snatched the stone from Garran's hand, looking it over intently for...something as Garran watched him worriedly.

"Please, be careful with it," he pleaded weakly; Elena gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Neither of them was prepared, though, when Cade seemingly pulled the stone apart in his hands, holding the two pieces separately.

"_No_!" Garran jumped toward Cade, and Elena was only just able to stop him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. She could feel his heartache, thinking his most prized, priceless possession was destroyed, but as Elena looked more closely at the pieces Cade held...she watched him pull a Rys'tihn Crest from one hollowed half of the stone.

No one said a word for what felt like hours, all standing in shocked silence in the eerie corridor. Cade was absolutely motionless as he stared at the pendant and stone pieces in his hands, his expression frozen in a kind of emotional pain Elena had never seen from him before. It was Garran who spoke first, though, his gaze fixed on Cade curiously.

"You have one, too," he observed innocently, seeing Cade's Crest laying atop his shirt, but he quickly shifted his gaze to Elena. "What is it?"

Elena looked up to Cade the instant he looked to her, and though she was fairly certain that the teen wasn't ready...it was too late to back down now.

"I think...we should go upstairs to talk."

Cade agreed without words, silently piecing the stone back together to give back to Garran. Keeping the spare Crest in his hands, he turned and headed back toward the stairs absentmindedly, leaving Elena alone with Garran momentarily. She tried to give the boy a supportive smile, but Garran was just more confused than anything. After inspecting it carefully for flaws but finding none, Garran replaced the Life Stone safely in his pocket as he walked with her upstairs, back into the vibrant elegance of the Retreat. Cade was already seated at a small arrangement of chairs in the main gathering room, dangling the newly discovered Crest just in front of his face as he studied it. Garran was reluctant to join him, but with Elena's gentle encouragement, he eventually sat opposite the elder Rys'tihn, watching him cautiously until she sat at his side.

Once more, it was Garran's innocent question that broke the tense silence between them. "Why is that necklace so important? Why did my mom have one of them?"

Elena had only begun to take in a breath to answer him, but Cade spoke up first, his voice nearly broken.

"It's not hers... It's yours."


	12. Chapter 12

_Unknown Regions  
5.4 APC_

A dingy, clunky old cargo hauler appeared out of hyperspace in a vast sector devoid of any known way points or space stations. No life-sustaining planets were nearby, either, but the hauler's pilot wasn't worried. Though the gruff Kel Dor was the ship's only occupant, he kept his protective mask over his sensitive eyes and mouth, a habit developed from spending the majority of his life away from his native homeworld's unique atmosphere. When an unexpected transmission came in, though, the mask was already in place to amplify his naturally quiet voice.

A small, blue figure of a human man hovered over the Kel Dor's console, but the pilot spoke up first, his irritated tone the only indication of his mood.

"I'm beginning to think you've put a tracker on me."

The human laughed lightly, amused but not denying it. "I keep a close watch on my most prized talent."

The Kel Dor sounded even more agitated. "You don't _own _me."

"No," the man agreed, "but I do wish to maintain an open avenue of communication as much as possible. You cannot deny that I am more than generous to my hired help whom I highly regard, and you, my friend, have been in my highest favor for some time now."

"So you say."

"Well, now intend to prove it. I have another job for you, one that will require your masterful skills of stealth and infiltration."

The Kel Dor considered his thoughts a moment, intrigued by the offer. "Go on."

"It will be the most challenging target I've demanded of you yet, but rest assured, you will be compensated in excess when you are successful. It involves the abduction of a Jedi child from three distracted Jedi Knights. Have I lost your interest?"

There wasn't even a pause. "Definitely not."

The man grinned impishly. "I didn't think so. I knew you couldn't turn down a chance at revenge. I will send more specifics to you in a few days, and you will have ample time to make your preparations. You'll be heading for the Paneau Sector, so you should await my instructions there. I look forward to another lucrative transaction for the both of us."

And with that, the holofigure disappeared, and the Kel Dor wasted little time in redirecting his hauler for another hyperspace jump. _  
_

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountain range_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_  
_5.4 APC_

Despite Cade's loaded statement, Garran remained confused, and before he could ask more questions, Elena had to intervene to prepare Garran as much as she could.

"Garran, do you remember how I told you that the Rys'tihns are one of the six Royal Families here?" Earning a silent nod from him, she continued. "Each of the Royal Families has what we call Ghost Heirs. They're two Royals immediately related to the current heir generation, but they are kept secret. They work kind of like...intelligence agents, making sure their Royals are safe, but no one other than their family is supposed to know who they are." She paused a moment, lightening her expression a bit. "You've already met one of ours."

Garran furrowed his brows as he thought. "...Dee?"

"Deilia," she confirmed with a faint smile. "She's Koril's twin sister."

Making the connection, Garran nodded with a broadening smile. "I thought he looked familiar."

"And this is Cade," she introduced him carefully, "the other Ghost Heir. He's Koril and Deilia's uncle."

Though still quite wary of the elder Rys'tihn, Garran nodded politely in greeting, his voice quiet. "Nice to meet you."

Cade only stared at the boy with a blank look on his face, still holding the new Crest in his hand. Anxious to keep things moving, Elena diverted Garran's attention again.

"Now, these pendants," she continued, pulling hers out on top of her shirt once more, "bear the Rys'tihn Family Crest. Only Rys'tihns can wear them, and they _are _very important for what they carry. Within them are codes, encryptions, and the Ghost Heirs' location, so it's imperative that they be kept safe."

Still trying to make sense of it all, Garran considered his thoughts briefly, looking to the Crest still hanging in Cade's grip. "So why is that one mine?" Turning back to Elena, his eyes lit up with sudden realization. "Is my mom a Rys'tihn?"

Without warning, Elena found it inexplicably difficult to answer him. It was a simple enough question, and an even simpler answer...and yet she was unable to tell him. He was far from being ready for the truth...

"Solienne was one of my covert agents."

Though it surprised her, Elena was glad Cade had again spoken up in the silence. It was his story to reveal, anyway, and all Elena could do was sit at Garran's side and support him when it all finally broke.

Both Cade and Garran had locked gazes, remaining completely motionless and silent as they understood what Garran was beginning to recognize and piece together himself.

His voice was so faint... "My mother was a _painter_."

Cade nodded weakly, speaking slowly. "That was her cover job. It gave her access to the other Royal Families' homes, as well as to the homes of other Paneau upper elite." He trailed off a moment, seeming to reflect bittersweetly on his memories of her. "We worked together...often. She was good at her job; she was my best agent. She was...brilliant, compassionate, thoughtful, thorough... She was a beautiful person." After a moment, he added with a weak smile, "I'm sure you knew that already, though."

Garran still hadn't moved, his expression frozen in a blend of a hundred different emotions, and he didn't even flinch when Cade continued, having already figured it out.

"...I'm your father, Garran."

Still, Elena watched the boy for his reaction, gauging his state of mind as the tense seconds ground on. A thousand questions seemed to flood his thoughts all at once, but unable to sort them in that instant, he chose to remain silent, awaiting further explanation. Cade was reluctant to go on, but he seemed to acknowledge the responsibility he had to answer to his son.

"When we found out that Solienne was pregnant...the other Ghost Heirs were going to force me to leave. They thought I would be too...distracted, too vulnerable to mistakes with...you both on my mind, and they preferred to have me replaced than to take the risk that I would be the downfall of our intricate operations. But Solienne..." He drifted off once more, his expression visibly faltering. "She...she chose to leave in my place, so I wouldn't have to."

The look in Garran's eyes remained the same, still full of disbelief and so many unanswered questions, but Cade was obviously struggling to maintain his composure, as close to being broken as Elena had seen him in the five years she'd known him. The stoic Ghost Heir had always been so guarded, even rigid in his past interactions with her, but she never knew he had carried such guilt for so long.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life," Cade continued hardly above a whisper, "...watch her walk away, not being able to do anything about it, knowing I'd never see her again...and that I'd never get to know you. Not a single day went by where I didn't nearly drive myself _crazy _wondering what else I could have done, what I could have changed so I'd have taken my exile instead...but it was Solienne's choice. I couldn't have changed her mind.

"I sent that Life Stone and Crest to her just before you were born, and it was the last time anything from Paneau was confirmed to have reached her. After that...I could only hope that you two were alright."

Taking a moment to settle his emotions, Cade continued with hushed sincerity. "I am _sorry _that you've been kept in the dark about all this, but your mother and I had no choice. And now that she's..." He paused, trembling and unable to bring himself to say it. "Now that you're old enough to make your own decisions about your life, you have the right to know: you are a Rys'tihn, you're Paneau Royalty, and you deserve the chance to have the life your mother was denied."

As Elena predicted, Garran looked like he was in far too much shock to even breathe. The lengthening silence made Cade that much more anxious and expectant, waiting for a response from the boy, but no sound escaped his lips. Long, tense moments crept by without any movements from either of them, but eventually Garran stood from his seat and silently walked away, his gaze focused blankly on the ground in front of him.

Cade moved to stand, as well, but Elena was quick to stop him. "Cade," she whispered firmly, shaking her head, "let him go." Reluctantly, Cade obeyed, and they both watched sadly as Garran disappeared down a hallway that would likely take him up to his room. As she returned to Cade, he looked little more than...lost.

"I almost want him to be angry at me," Cade confessed weakly. "_Something _would be better than...nothing, than this."

Sympathetic to his turmoil, she nodded, keeping her voice soft. "He has a lot to process very suddenly. It'll take time."

With obvious sadness, Cade lowered his gaze to the floor, and Elena couldn't help but see her husband in the elder Ghost Heir. Koril had only known him as long as she had, but so many of his traits, including his passion and compassion, seemed to be so closely tied to their Rys'tihn genes. Her own heart began to ache deeply, though, recalling how she had almost done the same to Koril with their son Derek as Solienne had done to Cade with Garran... There were entirely different motivations behind her choice compared to Solienne's, but seeing the agony on Cade's face reopened old wounds she had long preferred to forget.

Bringing herself back to the present and to the young Rys'tihn's fragile state, Elena stood and placed her hand lightly on Cade's shoulder. "I'll talk to him. Just...try to be patient, okay?"

Thankfully Cade seemed to ignore the irony of her instruction as he nodded, sitting back in his chair to reflect. As she left his side and made her way toward Garran's room, she did so at a slow pace, giving Garran an extended buffer of time to his own thoughts before she would intrude again. She even stood outside his door patiently for several minutes, though only partially for Garran's sake. She knew the deeper discussion wouldn't be easy for her, either, but she felt obligated to help him work through it as best she could.

Pressing the door's panel to open it, she quietly stepped inside, looking around briefly for the young man. "...Garran?"

He was seated at a large window in the back of the room, looking out into the picturesque Naeron Mountains that bordered the Retreat. His expression hadn't changed much as he turned to face her, and though he didn't invite her in further, neither did he turn her away, instead simply returning his gaze to the window without a word. She carefully pulled up a small stool beside him, sitting only when he looked to her once more, still unresponsive. Appreciating that he hadn't denied her company, she gave him the chance to speak first, but when he remained silent, she began softly.

"Garran... I know you're upset and overwhelmed. I'm sorry. We...wanted you to be a little more prepared than this."

Stoic, he let go of a short breath. "I don't know what I am. I'm...numb." As he paused, a wave of emotion suddenly rolled across his face, but he fought to control it as he continued. "My mother never told me anything about my father, not even if he was still alive. I was left to my imagination, wondering if he had...hurt her, betrayed her, left her... I had readied myself for every possible scenario, selfless and innocent or not, where it was his fault that we were on our own...but I _never _expected that it was..._her _choice."

Was he already refocusing his anger on his late mother? "Garran...your mother never meant to hurt you, keeping this from you. She only wanted to protect you. And like Cade said, she _couldn't_ tell you; she wasn't supposed to."

"She knew she was dying for years. She could've told me then."

Though she had begun to respond, he looked at her again. "You knew about it all along, didn't you?"

There was no harshness in his tone, but she heard a twinge of pain in his inquiry. She took in a slow breath to respond. "I knew about your father, yes, but...I didn't know the whole story until now."

"And Dee?"

Again she hesitated, nodding carefully. As Garran looked out the window once more, Elena knew she had to earn his trust back somehow. "Do you know why she was looking for you? Why she was allowed to, when your father couldn't even contact you?"

His curiosity piqued, Garran shook his head.

"...she's an exile now, too."

"What!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "Why?"

"I still don't even understand it myself. She saved Koril's and our son Derek's lives, but...her reward for it was being forced to leave. The Ghost Heirs have a very...different way of going about things. It's hard to explain, and it's even harder to get a straight answer out of them. But that's why she sent you here; she couldn't bring you here herself."

Disheartened even more, he sat back in his seat, mulling things over a moment. "The Ghost Heirs have a lot of...power," he mused, slightly haunted. "Was...Cade involved in sending her away?"

Elena released a light sigh. "No, I don't think so..." Though she hadn't considered it, another thought came to her as she considered Cade's role in his niece's exile. "Even if he was, there's something you should know about Rys'tihn men, something that I've learned from experience more than once. They always have the best of intentions for just about everything that they do, but...they have this annoying habit of going about it the wrong way. Maybe they learned it from each other, or maybe it's just genetic, I don't know. But what I do know...is that Cade is a good man. You don't have to pass judgment on him right now, and neither do you have to become his best friend. But at least...don't shut him out." She gave him a warm smile as he looked to her once more. "You have a lot to share. And you still have a lot to learn, too, but I promise you this: we won't throw anything this...dramatic at you again. Everything from here on out is a lot easier to swallow. You have my word."

Though still looking somewhat wary, Garran eventually nodded, his expression lightening as she continued to smile at him.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_

Exhausted and completely unaware of just how much time, or even how many days had passed as he remained at Mand's side, Rech idly wondered when he'd begin hallucinating. He was so keenly focused on his ailing wife and their twin daughters she was carrying that he expected his mind to soon begin creating distractions and diversions to keep itself from shutting down due to his stress and daily monotony. The only break he had taken had been to visit with Cordira the day before, but he wasn't able to spare more than a few minutes, and he felt intensely guilty for it. But dwelling on his guilt wasn't going to keep Mand alive, so he forced it from his thoughts, returning his concentration to her.

With a quick glance at the monitors all about her, he was quietly thankful for a period of relative calm. Mand's systems were momentarily all in equilibrium, and it was such a rare occurrence for every monitor to be silent; Rech savored it as best he could. He hadn't changed his technique, save for channeling even more positive Force energy into her weak, frail body, and even though it was draining him faster than he could recover, he continued. He had to, or he faced losing his little girls, and maybe even Mand herself, too.

Looking up to a chrono on the wall opposite him that told him the very early hour of the morning, he rubbed his face to wake himself up further, knowing he'd face a new wave of nurses and attendants as shifts changed. Finding his muscles stiff and resisting his commands, he moved sluggishly, gently rolling his head around to loosen his taut shoulders. The movement helped little and may have even worsened his fatigue, forcing him to feel just how entirely spent he was. He had just taken in a deep breath to rejuvenate himself when the room's door opened and Ri Banarecc sprinted inside, stopping at Mand's side and gazing sadly on her master's inert form.

Startled by her sudden entrance, Rech watched her a moment to be sure he wasn't imagining her. "...Ri?"

Before she had the chance to answer him, Jedi Master Strone Lithess also strode into the room, albeit at his usual calculated pace. The Chiss' crimson gaze easily drew anyone's attention, but Lithess had an even more powerful, commanding presence, and surprised to see him, as well, Rech stood and bowed out of habit.

"Master Lithess."

But the swift movement his body and his head weren't prepared for would have dropped him to his knees had Lithess not already been at his side, steadying him with a firm grip on his arm.

"Easy, Rech," Lithess warned gently. "Sit back down."

Though still feeling his head spinning, he complied, easing himself back down to his seat as Lithess also sat beside him. Rech silently nodded his thanks, slightly embarrassed that the Jedi Master had seen him so weak, but at least Lithess' attention didn't remain on him long.

"I'm so sorry, Rech," Ri apologized on the brink of tears, carefully holding Mand's hand at her side. "While we were training, I could tell she was sick, or at least that something was wrong, but...I didn't know it would get this bad."

He somehow found the strength to speak. "It's not your fault, Ri. She hid it from everyone...even from me." His assurances did little to comfort her, but he moved on. "I thought you were supposed to be constructing your lightsaber on Coruscant?"

Completely wordless, she nonchalantly detached a shiny hilt from her belt, holding it up to show him without any hint of hubris. His shock must have been well evident on his face.

"Fastest completion by anyone her age," Lithess answered in place of Ri's silence. "Mand prepared her very well."

"And now I want to learn from you."

Confused, Rech looked to Ri, unsure what she meant. "I don't understand. Learn what from me?"

She couldn't have seemed more innocent or more earnest. "Healing."

Rech froze, unable to answer. She wanted to learn from him...in the middle of all this? How could he spread his focus long enough, well enough without endangering Mand?

Pleading her case, Ri continued. "My mother had an affinity for it, so I want to know if I do, too. And I want to help Mand, if I can."

His throat was suddenly dry as he stared. Had she asked him any other time, he would have gladly accepted, but right now...

"Even if you do not choose to instruct her at this moment, Rech," Lithess stepped in carefully, "...I will still be bringing other Healers here to you. I can already tell that you need the help. You can't maintain this level of intensity for much longer."

As much as he knew Lithess was right, he didn't want to admit it, to himself or to his friends. His physical fatigue had worn away at his resolve, though, and after he reluctantly nodded to Lithess, he returned to Ri, swayed even more by her look of hopeful anticipation.

"We'll...start slowly," he agreed, glad to at least see the sadness and guilt gone from her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Provincial Academy_  
_5.5 APC_

With bright, pristine morning light shining on the Academy's sprawling campus, Major Aurin Jax made his way through the vibrant, fragrant central gardens, watching classes of students being led to their daily activities by their professors around the grand entrance. The groups of children ranged in age from four to well into their teens, and seeing the formal deep navy blue uniforms parading past him reminded him of his own years spent there as a young boy himself. He hadn't been back since his graduation, but know that his daughter Tavyna was enrolled in an advanced early education program there, he had an excuse to visit.

It wasn't long before he crossed paths with someone he knew, and as one of his former teachers spotted him in the front entryway, he instantly felt thirteen again.

"Professor Del," Jax greeted the slight old woman warmly with a polite nod. Paelonia Delesdemier was probably one of the few faculty members he had studied under who still remained on staff at Academy, but she had left the most important, lasting impression on him as he prepared to enter the Royal Forces Academy the year following his classes with her. She wore her long, graying hair swept up in the same tight bun he remembered, neatly braided and bound atop her head without drawing attention away from her soft facial features and gentle blue eyes. Of course, the years had etched elegant wrinkles around her eyes, but her smile was still pleasant and genuine as the first day he had stepped into her classroom.

"Major Jax!" she returned a respectful bow to him. "To what does the Academy owe the honor of a visit from the High Commander's Security Chief?"

Jax laughed lightly, shaking his head. "This is strictly a personal visit, Professor. I know you're around mostly older students, but my two-year-old daughter Tavyna has been here for a few weeks now."

"She is such a sweetheart," Paelonia beamed with an even broader smile. "I hear about her almost every day from my daughter-in-law Cotaal. She's one of Tavy's instructors, and she is quite captivated by your little lady."

Smiling, Jax gave a relieved sigh. "I'm glad she's made such a good impression. I was...a little hesitant to send her here so early, but I knew she would be in good hands."

"Well, I am certainly counting the days until I have another Jax in my classroom, Major. It would be a privilege."

He hesitated the slightest bit, remembering the impact she had on him at the tender age of thirteen... "Just promise me you won't steer her in the same direction you sent me?"

A tight smile of pride spread across Paelonia's face. "I promise nothing but uncovering any aptitudes she may possess. Where that leads is up to her. Are you...unhappy with what you have become?"

"No, of course not," Jax answered hastily, and he meant it. His career with the Royal Guard had taken him far, and he never would have guessed he'd have ended up personally serving the High Commander and the Rys'tihn Royal Family as he had. His service to the Crown had also granted him a chance encounter with the woman who would become his wife, and his beautiful girl Tavyna meant more to him than he could describe. With that thought, he smiled again. "I only want what every father wants: the best for my little Tavy."

Paelonia nodded gracefully, understanding his meaning. "You know very well that she will get that here." Something slightly behind him caught her attention, and her smile broadened as she watched. "And there they go, off to their morning playtime."

Jax turned around to see a number of young instructors busily keeping more than a dozen toddlers occupied on their way toward a small building just beside the central gardens. Most of them hadn't even cleared the main entryway, but only interested in playing with their friends about them, the children were in no hurry to cooperate. The instructors continued their gentle encouragement, seemingly accustomed to and undeterred by their slow pace, and as they all finally appeared on the landing, Jax spotted Tavyna involved with a tight knit of other children, making him smile. Without noticing her father standing nearby, she conversed with them giddily, and he wasn't surprised to spot Dirani Rys'tihn among the group. Dirani's pure white hair easily differentiated her from all the other wobbly, bobbing heads in the class, and he was glad to see the two of them appear to be so close already.

"Would you like a tour of the grounds, Major?" Paelonia's genial offer interrupted his thoughts. "Quite a few things have changed since you last walked these halls."

Jax had just returned to face his old professor when he noticed the familiar hum of an approaching ship behind him...only he was quickly beginning to realize that it was flying far too low already, and it was coming in at an unusually high speed, much, _much _too fast for a landing...

He whirled back around and had no time to process what he saw. The fuselage of some unknown ship crashed just beside him, blasting apart with fierce, concussive force against the doors of the Academy's main entrance, and he felt nothing more.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_

Startled out of sleep with a lurching jolt, Rech struggled to breathe for several agonizing seconds. The sensation that had jarred him from his brief meditation was so odd...akin to being jabbed deep in the very fabric of one's own consciousness, and he had felt it only once before. It was as disorienting as he remembered, and he even had to force his mind to process where he was, though he hadn't gone anywhere for days.

"Rech," Jedi Master Amina Kanomin's soft voice addressed him gently beside him, "you've still another six hours before you're to return to your shift. Go back to sleep, _please_."

Masters Kanomin and Rylka had been his constant companions for four tender weeks already, rotating through healing duties with him to treat Mand's ailing and frail body. The medical center room had become home to them, too, and though he refused to accept their aid, originally determined to do it all himself, he had finally given in and admitted that he needed their help if he was going to keep his promise to Mand. The two Masters had shown him that it could be done, but only if he opened himself to them and trusted them with Mand's care completely. That had taken some time, but well into an established routine by now, he was even more disturbed by the call that had woken him up with such alarm.

Slowly sitting up on his cot on the floor of Mand's room, he had to allow his eyes time to adjust to the dim light, still seeing a bright, penetrating flash in his mind. Once he could, he stood, taking up Mand's hand at her side as he looked her over. She remained deep in a coma of sorts, her systems all reduced to a fleeting hibernation state except for what the twins required of her. Nothing was out of the ordinary; all the monitors remained silent, and Mand's current healer, Master Kanomin, was only concerned at the moment with him.

"...Rech?"

"I felt something," he managed to speak roughly, suddenly finding his throat dry and coarse. "I think Mand tried to contact me."

Confused, Master Kanomin furrowed her brows as she, too, turned to Mand, watching her a moment for signs of anything unusual. When nothing else came, and as his mind became fully alert without any lingering traces of sleep, he sighed, delicately reaching the Force to her, determining her condition for himself. Still, everything remained in place, even her highly guarded consciousness that he didn't dare disturb. She was expending so much energy keeping herself in such a state that he only tended to her physical needs, which could all be done without delving into her mind and distracting her. If her consciousness was still locked up deep within her...then where had that call come from just moments before?

"She's the only one who's ever tried to reach me quite like that," Rech continued, idly thinking aloud. "The first time, I thought it was...a mistake, or an accident. But it was her way of trying to find me...after I had severed our connection on Coruscant years ago." He gave her hand the gentlest squeeze, shielding her from a sudden spike of emotion he was unable to contain. "She's still...locked in right now, though. I don't understand. Why would she need me so urgently if nothing's wrong?"

Master Kanomin frowned apologetically, unable to answer, either. "The girls are alright?"

He nodded as he placed his hand lightly atop Mand's swollen stomach, carefully wrapping the twin girls in the warmth of the Force and his presence for a few lengthy minutes as he stood with Master Kanomin in silence. Only after hearing her rustling on the cot on the other side of the room, Rech remembered that Master Rylka would be stirring for her shift soon. She seemed to sense the mood of the room without speaking, and the Lethan Twi'lek Jedi Master stood from her humble bed, her sharp hazel eyes studying them all.

"Rech felt a message from Mand," Master Kanomin explained simply, and Master Rylka nodded, weighing her words with consideration as she always did.

"Was there any specific meaning with the message?"

Rech and Master Kanomin exchanged glances. "None that we can tell yet," he answered her.

Again, Master Rylka looked contemplative, and as she began to speak once more, a nurse stepped into the room from the hallway, looking distressed but reticent for intruding.

"I apologize for the interruption," the nurse began timidly, "but...we need your help, Masters Jedi, _immediately_."

Rech felt his stomach turn to ice before the nurse even continued, already certain that her urgency couldn't be the fault of anything benign.

"What's happened?"

The nurse swallowed to tame the shakiness in her voice. "There was an accident at the Provincial Academy... We don't have many details, other than the fact that there are already dozens of wounded on their way to us...mostly children."

Both Jedi Masters looked to each other simultaneously and appeared to communicate silently before Master Kanomin turned to Rech, softening her sweet, Coruscanti voice.

"Rech, you're the least well rested of the three of us at this moment. Mand has been very stable these past few days, and she should remain so while we're gone. We need to help these children as quickly as we can."

Stunned but at least able to nod his response, Rech held more tightly to Mand's hand as the Master Healers swiftly left with the nurse for the main floor where the injured would be pouring in. As horrible of a tragedy as it sounded, he at least could take small comfort knowing that whatever had happened, Cordira hadn't been harmed in it.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Provincial Academy_

The flurry of activity amidst a backdrop of smoldering wreckage and chaotic screams was all too fresh a memory, momentarily placing Elena on the steps of the Dalon Palace, reduced to mountains of rubble more than five years ago. Were it not for her intense drive to find her daughter Dirani somewhere on the scene, she would have locked up in agonizing flashbacks of that terrible day...but she knew Dirani was gravely wounded, which focused her thoughts; the fragile toddler was quickly running out of time.

She had nearly collapsed when she felt Dirani's injuries, and spotting a plume of thick, black smoke rising over the horizon from the Academy's grounds had confirmed her fears. She left the company of King Verojec and a number of his advisers without explaining much, but little was required to be said once the others saw what she already knew. With four Edgepoints struggling to keep up with her as she left the shuttle before it had even landed and sprinted toward the site, she couldn't totally make sense of what she was seeing.

More than twenty small bodies lay motionless about on the ground, all seemingly blasted back from one central source which looked to be the burning, crashed ship against the main entrance. A handful of Academy instructors, though in a daze themselves, were caring for the young wounded, vainly attempting to comfort them or even crudely treat them. Medics were still arriving from the closest satellite clinic, and the Royal Guard response was also landing on the Academy's front lawn nearby, dispersing to secure the area under General Erro's direction. Continuing into the fray, she had almost passed over a man sitting on the ground cradling a bundled, unresponsive child...when she noticed it was the fine uniform jacket of a high ranking Royal Guard that the child was wrapped in, and she easily recognized it.

"...Major? Major Jax!"

As she hastily knelt beside him, she wasn't expecting to find him injured, as well. His exposed skin was sliced and singed, and the largest laceration, jagged and enmeshed with his hairline, was still spilling blood down his face, but he was only concerned with the girl in his arms she realized was his daughter Tavyna. He didn't even acknowledge Elena beside him until she gripped his shoulder, searching his eyes as he slowly looked up at her.

She could hardly breathe. "...you were _here_? When this happened?"

His expression was blank with shock, and she wasn't even sure he understood or heard her until he finally nodded. His entire body was trembling with injuries she couldn't even see, but he still only worried for his daughter as he gripped one of her tiny legs, covering it tightly with his jacket that was heavily darkened with blood... The girl was missing one of her feet.

"Tavy," he struggled to speak, "...she won't wake."

Desperate to control her own emotions, Elena turned back to the Edgepoints who had followed her and stood behind her, locking her eyes open to withhold any tears from them. "Gray, Cal, stay with him. You make _sure _that they both get to the med center _now_."

"Yes, m'lady," the two echoed in tandem, moving quickly to execute her order. Elena couldn't bring herself to say anything else to Jax without breaking down, though, so she gently placed her own shaky hand against his cheek, wordlessly expressing her support before she stood from him and returned to the rest of the remaining chaos.

More victims were being tended to on site before being moved, and those too far gone were being covered with sheets to be transported to the city morgue later. Any other mother might have felt the heart-crushing gravity of the scene, but Elena had the Force to steel her nerves, heighten her senses...

"M'lady," Swip began cautiously, keeping up just behind her as they surveyed the wounded, "...maybe she's already been taken to the medical center?"

But she shook her head firmly. "No. Dirani's still here." Distracted by all the motion swirling about her, she stopped and closed her eyes to extend her feelings into the area, following the faintest trace of her daughter's presence. It had already weakened so much, but if she could just find her, she could save her, even at the _last_ possible second...

"There."

Looking up in the direction her extended finger had pointed, she saw a separated, large section of the wrecked ship laying against the exterior wall of a nearby building, still smoldering. The warped durasteel had been blasted to its current resting place, lengthwise but caving in a portion of the building's supports on either side of it. Dirani had to be somewhere..._underneath _the debris?

As quickly as her legs would move in her terror, she crossed the littered central gardens to reach it, hearing Swip and Leikam keeping close on her heels. Though they both began inspecting it for proper leverage points, it was far too large a structure for any two or even five humans to move - only she could.

"Keep back," she instructed them both intensely, raising her hand again, "but be ready to pull her out when I say."

Getting nods from them both, she closed her eyes once more and took in a deep breath, working quickly to wrap an invisible grip around the wreckage. It was much, much heavier than she anticipated, forcing her to reach deeper within herself, further into her reserves of strength. She could feel the durasteel crimping and deforming as she heard it moan and creak under the strain of her efforts. Sparks even flew up from its mangled parts and damaged circuits, but she wrenched her hold defiantly, determined to make it bend to her will through the Force. It _would_ move and lift away from Dirani safely, she demanded, her brows creased together in earnest concentration..._just a bit more_...

"_Now!_"

Her eyes sprung open as she watched Swip, already on his knees under the levitating wreckage, quickly and carefully scoop Dirani's tiny body into his arms. He rocked back onto his feet and stood in one fluid motion, sweeping her away from the danger as Leikam stepped with him, both looking over the wounded girl worriedly. Before Elena could take Dirani from them, though, she slowly lowered the debris back down to the ground, gradually easing her hold of it to make sure it rested evenly and wouldn't roll or cause more damage. With the difficult exertion, her legs felt weak underneath her, but she willed herself forward, meeting Swip as he delicately cradled Dirani.

"She's still breathing, m'lady," he informed her, albeit without much hope in his voice, and she soon saw why. As she released a breath she had been holding, her own bones fiercely ached to their cores as she looked over Dirani's obvious fractures, amazed that someone so small could have endured so many grievous injuries. She remained unconscious, which was one tender mercy for which Elena could be thankful while surrounded by such devastation. Her eyes again blurred with building tears, and she couldn't hold them back as Swip began gently transferring the girl to her, making sure to support her head and broken limbs as she moved. With one hand she smoothed Dirani's hair, dirtied from its normal pure white shimmer, and with what focus she could muster, she called on the Force to begin healing, weaving her wounds together...

"Elena!"

Koril's voice behind her was mildly startling, as she hadn't expected him to travel to the site himself yet. Someone else on his staff must have contacted him; she had been too focused on finding Dirani to stop earlier. Had he defied his advisers' likely orders to wait until the area had been secured in order to find his daughter, as she had?

She turned around to face him with her cheeks tear-stained and their seemingly lifeless girl in her arms, and understandably, she watched as the color drained from his face in his heartbreak. Her voice wouldn't work fast enough to stall his pain.

"Still alive," she managed between weak sobs, but seeing a medic rushing toward them, she knew that their duties would soon separate them. Koril would have to stay as Paneau's High Commander to oversee the aftermath...but Elena would have to leave the site not as a Jedi, but as a mother.

"...I _have _to go with her."

With one arm wrapped around Elena's shoulders protectively, Koril reached his free hand up to Dirani's face in her arms, brushing her hair from her closed eyes with the gentlest touch. A noticeable grimace rolled over his face as he realized that she was right, his emotional distress plainly evident in his expression as he met Elena's gaze. He nodded with obvious effort, torn with the burden of his duty that would keep him from being at his daughter's side for the time being. Taking in and releasing a shaky breath, he looked up to the two Edgepoints still standing beside them, hardening his exterior for his official front he'd be returning to in moments.

"You two will stay with them until I'm done here."

Swip and Leikam nodded dutifully. "Yes, High Commander."

As the medic began assessing Dirani in Elena's hold, Koril turned to leave, but not before he gave one last order.

"Take my shuttle. It'll get you to the medical center faster."


	14. Chapter 14

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_  
_5.5 APC_

With no less than six Royal Guards escorting them through the med center halls, Koril was silently grateful that his son Derek remained quiet at his side. He held the four-year-old boy's hand tightly, perhaps tighter than usual because of stress, but already seeming to understand the weighty situation, Derek didn't protest. It had only been a few precious hours since the terrible disaster at the Dalon Provincial Academy, and along with many others, Dirani was still being treated for her extensive wounds. Fearing an attack on the Royal Families, both Koril and Elena wanted to keep Derek nearby in the vast medical complex, but they couldn't allow him to witness all the intense treatment sessions his little sister was going through.

And as Koril stopped with Derek just outside Mand's room, he wasn't entirely sure the boy would be better off there instead of with his parents.

The room's door swept aside gently without Koril's prompting, but as he suspected, Rech was standing just opposite him in the doorway, his daughter Cordira close beside him, too. He had seen Koril approaching and anticipated his arrival.

Anxious to hear, Rech hardly hesitated. "How's Dirani doing?"

Though he should've known, he wasn't entirely prepared for it. Images of his sweet little girl flashed through his mind, of her tiny body suspended in a bacta tank, of the succession of surgeries she had endured to repair her many shattered bones... He had to shake his head to clear it before it became too much. "She's...mending," he answered blankly, struggling to keep his voice strong. "Master Kanomin is keeping her recovery on track."

Hard as it was to speak, Koril's pain seemed to be even more difficult for Rech to hear. The Jedi could barely talk, either. "Koril, I...I'm..."

Koril shook his head, feeling the weight of the guilt in Rech's voice. "It's okay, Rech. We understand," he reassured him, and he meant it. Koril could see that Rech wanted nothing more than to help the injured children, especially Dirani and Tavyna Jax, but he couldn't risk leaving his wife's side while she remained so fragile. Koril hadn't wanted to leave his family himself, either, but he had the investigation to manage. "Are you sure it's alright that Derek stays here?"

Rech nodded. "Yes, of course. Whatever I can do to help."

Turning to Derek beside him, Koril knelt down to his eye level, lightly placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Alright, you and Cordira can play here, but you have to be _very _quiet, got it?" Getting a nod from him, Koril continued. "And you do what Rech tells you to do. Whatever he says, you listen to him, understand me?"

"Yes, Daddy."

Derek's simple innocence and obedience was almost enough to make Koril stay...but the responsibilities of the High Commander remained his priority when his children were safe. He leaned over Derek and gently kissed the top of his head, and rocking back onto his heels to look into the boy's enchanting green eyes once more, he softened his voice.

"I love you."

Suddenly scared for some reason, Derek threw his arms around his father's neck, holding onto him tightly on the brink of tears. "Don't leave!"

Though he had hoped to leave without any problems, his stomach wrenched into an icy knot with Derek's plea. He hugged the boy for a moment to comfort him, but pulling him back to look at him again, he brushed his hand through Derek's hair. "I have to, Derek... I have to help those other children who...got hurt like Dirani did, okay?" Not entirely comprehending, Derek remained sad, and Koril wasn't sure why until he realized...the last time someone had said goodbye to him in such a manner, his mother had left him for two years.

"I'm not leaving Paneau," he continued quietly, closely watching Derek's expression as it lightened with his promise. "I'm not even leaving the city. I'll be back to get you later tonight, alright?"

Sniffling though he hadn't shed any tears, Derek eventually nodded. "Okay."

Koril feigned a small smile for Derek's sake, kissing him again at his temple. "Be good," he told his son as he stood from him. Before he could even ask her to, Cordira quietly stepped up to Derek's side and took his hand, bringing him inside without another word. Rech and Koril watched as the two disappeared around the corner into a dimmed area of the room, and thankful that they remained silent, Koril released a tense breath. He began to turn to leave, but Rech spoke up again, stopping him.

"Their instructor said Cordira saved their lives."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

Rech glanced into the room briefly, but returning to Koril, his shoulders sagged with stress. "Their class was on their way outside through the main entrance, but just before they got there, Cordira...threw a fit of some kind. She stopped them all, and...because of her, the door was still closed when the ship crashed against it. If it had been open...there would have been a _lot_ more casualties." He paused a moment, seemingly mustering the strength to finish. "...I think Mand warned her."

Though he had initially furrowed his brows in confusion, it was quickly turning into disbelief and even anger as he glanced into the room at Mand's inert form. She had been in a self-induced coma-like state for over a month, but she anticipated the attack and only bothered to warn her daughter? What about Dirani's class of seventeen, fourteen of which, including their three instructors, were dead? The children had all been under the age of three, and all but one had died instantly in the concussive blast. Where was their warning? Where was Dirani's protection that would have saved her from dozens of awful wounds? His frustration was quickly clouding his mind, and knowing he couldn't walk into Tavyna Jax's room with such dark thoughts, he took in a slow breath as he looked back to Rech.

"Let me know if Derek's any trouble."

Though a bit perplexed by Koril's swift shift in topic, Rech nodded, and Koril left before he could ask about it.

* * *

Thankful that Dirani had finally tired herself out after crying for what felt like an hour, Elena rested her head on the bed just beside her daughter, her face mere inches from the girl's as she slept. The last bacta treatment session had been nothing short of traumatic for Dirani, as she had woken up for the first time since the disaster while suspended in the tank. Emerging from unconsciousness in such a state would have been disorienting and stressful for anyone, let alone for a two-and-a-half-year-old girl who had never before been hurt so grievously in her life. Almost all of Dirani's wounds had been mended by surgeries and by Master Kanomin's healing hand, and the bacta was supposed to finish treating her superficial cuts and bruises; though the session had been cut short by her fit, she looked serene and peaceful, all evidence of her proximity to the blast erased. Elena gently stroked her fine white hair as she looked over her sleeping face, sadly wondering who would dare harm so many _children_...

The door to the room opened behind her, and instantly the smell of warm, spiced food filled the air. None of them had eaten since arriving at the med center that morning, and Swip had just returned from the cafeteria downstairs with an armful of meals. Standing just inside the door, Leikam helped him place all the trays on a table to free his hands, and checking to make sure Dirani remained asleep, Elena stood to lend her aid, as well.

"I got as much of an assortment as I could," Swip whispered, glancing behind Elena at Dirani on the bed. "I wasn't sure what her favorite food was this week."

Surprised that he knew of Dirani's recently developed picky eating habits, Elena smiled appreciatively as she looked over the food, nodding. "This will be fine. Thank you, Swip." She picked up a round green fruit for herself and bit into it, savoring its sweet juices that satiated her hunger she had ignored for so long. Still standing beside Swip, Leikam eyed the food with obvious desire, though he made no move to take any. Elena laughed lightly. "Eat, you two."

With her permission, Leikam wasted little time in picking up a plate of roasted meat with a smile. "Thank you, m'lady." He sat in the far corner of the room at a small table, already swallowing large bites without realizing that his partner hadn't moved at all. Swip had a distant, thoughtful look on his face, his gaze still fixed on Dirani as she slept soundly. Elena couldn't quite tell what was bothering him so, and as he continued to stare without noticing that she was focused on him, she had to speak up.

"Swip?"

Blinking as he snapped out of his daze, he looked to her intently. "M'lady?" She could still see that he wasn't quite himself, despite his best efforts to revert his attention to her.

"Are you alright?"

He swallowed and nodded after a moment, seemingly reluctant to explain. "I just...have a lot on my mind." He returned his gaze to Dirani, looking both distraught and relieved at the same time. "I'm glad she's doing better."

Had his mood been so sullen all day? She had been so entirely focused on Dirani, she hadn't noticed much else. Without looking, she couldn't even number how many Royal Guards stood outside the room protecting them, so now with Dirani pacified for the moment, she was beginning to realize just how much of a toll the disaster had taken on her friends. No longer interested in the fruit in her hand, she stepped closer to Swip to speak to him more privately, but she had only taken in a breath to begin when the door opened behind them.

Wearing his formal uniform with his hat tucked under his arm, Cal Jax, Commander of the Edgepoint Squadron, stepped inside with a solemn expression. Immediately, Leikam and Swip stood at attention, but assuming Jax was there for her, Elena approached him quietly.

"M'lady," Jax greeted her softly as he bowed. She nodded to him as he righted himself, and though she waited for his message, he instead turned his attention to Swip behind her. "Lieutenant..."

Confused, Elena glanced back at Swip who looked equally as perplexed. Without another word, Jax turned his head slightly to the side, inviting a young woman into the room from behind him. She had long, platinum blond hair, but she wore no uniform or formal identifying attire, only plain clothing, and Elena had never seen her before. Looking back to Swip as the color drained from his face, though, she knew something was terribly wrong.

Swip could hardly speak. "...Miina?" The woman's expression faltered the longer they gazed at each other, communicating what Swip already seemed to know. "...is...is she...?"

The woman nodded, breaking down even further as she shook with tears she fought to contain. "She...put up a good fight..."

Feeling as though she had suddenly walked in on a very personal, private exchange, Elena stepped back to give them space as Jax did the same. Swip was close to tears himself as he embraced the sobbing woman, leaving Elena to look to the commander for answers.

"...Cal?"

Stepping up closely beside her, he kept his voice low and somber. "That's Miina Wip, his oldest sister. Their sister between them, Cotaal...she was one of the instructors for your daughter's class." He looked down, finding it difficult to say aloud. "She...died a few minutes ago."

Stunned, Elena felt an icy pain tear through her chest as she looked back at her friend suffering through a horrible loss. "Cotaal...was his...I didn't..."

Jax nodded, understanding her partial sentences. "She married about a year before she began teaching. Her students only knew her as Mrs. Del, short for Delesdemier. Her mother-in-law died in the blast, too...instantly. Cotaal was a bit further from the impact, and she shielded a few of the children from more serious injuries by taking them herself..."

Hardly able to withhold her own tears, Elena's voice shook instead. "Then she is a hero..."

Looking down, Jax nodded again. "Yes, m'lady." He hesitated a moment more before he tugged at the edges of his uniform jacket, absentmindedly tending to nonexistent wrinkles as he stood erect to leave. "I'll have a replacement for him sent to you within the hour."

She accepted his offer with a short nod, and she watched as Cal returned to the doorway, putting a hand on Swip's shoulder to walk out with him. The lieutenant left his sister's embrace and took a moment to compose himself before turning to Elena once more. His eyes were red and bereaved, as she would've expected, but he resolutely stood in place, as if determined to stay.

"M'lady," he managed weakly, adopting a more formal, attentive stance. "Your safety is...my priority..."

Stepping up to him, she shook her head as she released a trembling breath. "Saross..._go_. Your family needs you right now, much more than I do."

He struggled to keep his expression neutral, and she could tell he was desperately mustering the strength to protest. She knew the Edgepoints were especially loyal to the Royal Families, and most especially to the Rys'tihns for Koril's past service with them...but such close family bonds were far more important; the five younger Wip boys should have both their oldest brother and their oldest sister with them at such a sorrowful time. Before he could speak, she lightly placed her hand against his cheek, her voice softened even more by sympathy. "_Saross_...that's an _order_. Go."

With her touch, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brows to halt his reaction, unwilling to bear his emotions to her. He took in and released a series of short breaths, steeling his nerves before finally deciding to heed her order with a nod. "Yes, m'lady."

His blond hair covered most of his face as he hung his head, turning to leave with Miina and Commander Jax without another word. As much as she knew she was defeating him by forcing him to leave his sworn duty, she knew she'd never forgive herself if she didn't.

* * *

As Koril stepped up to Tavyna Jax's room in the medical center, he was surprised to see that the lighting wasn't dimmed much inside, if at all, even though the tiny girl lay sound asleep on her bed. Milowi Jax, the girl's mother, sat with weary, sagging posture in a chair at the foot of the bed, while her father, Major Aurin Jax, reclined in a rather uncomfortable-looking chair just beside the bed. He had a light blanket draped over him, and even with his head resting against Tavyna's bed, Koril could see the bruises and slashes still fresh on his face that, while cleaned, had only been minimally treated. Koril knew the feeling well. If he had been injured in the same manner, he wouldn't have wasted a single second on himself, instead remaining beside his wounded little girl as much as possible.

Heaving a worry-laden sigh, he nodded to his guard escort beside him to remain watch outside as he went in. They swiftly took up posts beside the room's door, but the motion caught Milowi's attention before he even stepped all the way into the room. She looked almost relieved to see him, and even though he gave her a small, kind smile in return, she looked back to her husband and called to him softly. "Aurin... Aurin?"

Slightly startled out of a light slumber, the major blinked sleepily as he focused on Milowi's face hovering over him for a moment. Remembering where he was, his eyes snapped to attention suddenly, and he quickly turned his attention to Tavyna beside him; Milowi calmed him only just before he stood from his chair. "She's okay, Aurin. She's still asleep."

He checked the monitors around her head to be sure, but once he relaxed and returned his tired eyes to Milowi, she had to nod her head toward Koril for the dazed major to recognize his presence in the room. This time, Koril was the one keeping Jax in his seat.

Noticeably surprised, Jax struggled to untangle himself from the blanket laying atop him as he moved to stand. "High Commander..."

But Koril held up a hand to halt him, keeping his voice quiet but firm. "As you were, Major. You don't have to get up for me." Waiting until Jax settled back into his chair before he continued, he looked over Tavyna briefly. "How is she doing?"

Jax flinched slightly at the question, still finding it difficult to accept her...condition. "They're keeping her...sedated, so her body has the chance to adjust as much as possible...reduce the trauma of transition..." His voice shook as he continued, unable to meet Koril's gaze. "They're not sure how long it'll...last...since she's so young. She'll have to be..._refitted_...every few weeks, possibly for _years_..."

Without intending to, Koril looked to Tavyna and traced the outline of her tiny frame under her blankets to her left foot that he knew was now artificial. The girl had amazingly been spared more serious injuries in the blast, but losing her foot would prove extremely difficult for her in the long run. Jax was already aware, and it weighed heavily on him, even though his quick action, applying a crude tourniquet around her leg to slow the bleeding just minutes after the disaster, had probably saved her life. Koril could only hope that he'd be able to act that swiftly were he ever in the same situation.

"Whatever she needs, for however long she needs...she will get it, Major. You have my word."

Finally looking back up at Koril, Jax nodded weakly. "Thank you, Sir." He sat forward with an odd flutter in one eye, but his voice had at least strengthened somewhat. "I was going to -"

Cutting off his words, an intense pain gripped him, forcing his eyes tightly closed in a serious grimace. He brought a hand to his forehead, but he froze in place, even holding his breath, deeply concerning Koril and Milowi.

"Aurin?" Milowi tried to garner a response from him, stepping over to him and gingerly placing her hand at the base of his neck. "Aurin, Love, breathe!"

With her persuasion, he eventually exhaled, taking in sharper breaths to endure the pain as the moments wore on. She didn't seem entirely surprised by his struggle, but Koril knew how dangerously close Jax had been to the initial blast...surely he hadn't foregone help entirely?

"Major...have you been treated?"

Milowi gave Koril an overtly disappointed look. "With a bacta cloth."

Jax was eager to defend himself, though. "I _don't _need a tank. It wouldn't help me, anyway."

"You at least need to let the Healers see to you, even for just a -"

"No," he bit back almost angrily. "They need to stay with the children. It's just a headache. I'll manage."

Recognizing Jax's frustration that he himself had so often wielded in similar circumstances, Koril knew he needed to get the major's mind back on taking action. "I didn't mean to impose, but I won't bother you for much longer. I just wanted to ask you some questions, Major."

Relaxing as his headache seemed to ease, Jax sighed sadly. "I already told the investigators everything I saw...which wasn't much."

"We're having a hard time identifying the type of ship, even from its remains. Can you think of anything that would give us a clue? A starting point?"

Jax shook his head. "I only turned to see it for maybe a half second before it crashed. I couldn't process much of anything...not even the instinct to dive out of the way..."

Though wary of pushing him too far, they needed answers... "There has to be something that stood out to you: the shape of the cockpit, the slope of the engines, _something_..."

"I wish there _was_, Sir," Jax answered, his anger rising again, "but I've run it over and over and over in my mind, and all I can see is the nose of that ship almost on top of me. And if I could see through it, or around it, or behind it, I'd -"

His words cut off again, but his eyes were locked wide open in realization...he _had _remembered something.

"...Major?"

He looked like he didn't believe his own memory. "The engines...they were too quiet...because they were _already _on fire. There was a trail of smoke behind it before it crashed. That's why I didn't hear it until it was so close... It wasn't aiming for us...it was just going down."

Koril furrowed his brows. "None of the other witnesses reported seeing smoke behind it."

Jax thought a moment. "It wasn't very thick. The crash's explosion would've engulfed it before anyone noticed, erased it from the sky." Sensing Koril's next question, Jax rebutted preemptively. "I'm _sure _I saw the trail. I was too focused on the ship itself before, but I see it very clearly now."

As they all contemplated the new evidence in silence, Milowi was the first to speak up. "So, this...this was just...an accident?"

Koril couldn't bring himself to answer her definitively. Even if it was, it would still be little consolation to a two-year-old girl who would face certain hardships for the rest of her life, and it wouldn't comfort the families whose lives had been forever changed with the loss of a loved one, no matter how old. Still, Jax's revelation would have an interesting effect on the investigation if it proves true. Taking in a slow breath, Koril looked to them both with as much confidence as he could muster.

"We'll figure this out. In the mean time...take care, and let Tavy know she can see Dirani whenever she wants."

Milowi and Jax nodded, exchanging reluctant glances with each other. As Koril turned to leave, he knew where he'd be going, and it wasn't back to his investigating officers. The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled, and he was going to get answers.


	15. Chapter 15

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Medical Center  
5.5 APC_

Though he had once again drifted off into a light meditative trance, Derek and Cordira's quiet discussion in the corner of the room brought Rech back to himself. He couldn't see them as they sat on the floor on the other side of Mand's bed, but just thankful that they remained quiet as had been asked of them, he didn't mind. If he focused well enough, he could hear what they were saying...but he couldn't bring himself to pry. After enduring that terrifying disaster earlier in the day, the two children felt safe enough with him to relax with each other once more, and he didn't want to alter that in any way. They'd process the day's events in their own manner, he told himself, and if they needed his comfort, they'd know to ask.

The door to the room quietly swept open, waking him even further. He moved to stand from his seat to greet his visitor, but Master Kanomin was already holding a hand up to him to halt him when he looked to her. Though she seemed a bit tired, her expression was still calm, and her eyes were warm with a small, kind smile, as usual. She waved affectionately to the children as she stepped further into the room, and reaching Mand's bedside, she looked about the monitors briefly before returning to Rech.

"She's been faring well?"

Appreciating her soft voice, he nodded. "Near as I can tell." He took in a slow breath, looking over his wife with cautious hope. "...I don't want to curse it, but it's been a while since anything's gone wrong."

Master Kanomin's face brightened just slightly. "Perhaps she's finally stabilizing. It would be welcome relief for all of us, you most especially."

He agreed. "It would be. They still have such a long way to go, though... I don't think we can celebrate just yet."

Looking back down on Mand, Master Kanomin nodded, her expression solemn. "I'm afraid I can't stay long. I just came by to see how you were holding up."

Afraid that something else more troubling was worrying the petite Jedi Master, Rech watched her carefully. "I'm alright." He took in a slow breath, preparing himself for his offer. "Master...if you need an extra hand to continue treating the wounded..."

But Master Kanomin was quick to shake her head. "No, Mand is your priority." When she looked up and met Rech's disappointed expression, though, she continued softly with an explanation. "We've seen to all the children who had the most serious wounds, and they're all resting and mending on their own now. We have just two of the older instructors left to treat." Her face visibly faltered with sadness and pain Rech hadn't seen from her before, but she corrected it quickly, her voice hardly audible. "I'm sorry. It's been...quite some time since I was last on a triage team like this. I kept seeing my daughter Daxaly in all those children I healed... It never gets any easier."

Rech knew very well the weariness in her eyes, having looked that way himself for weeks after the Dalon Palace collapse. Such senseless destruction and massive loss of life had been unbearably difficult to comprehend, and it left such a sinking, draining feeling behind, only time had been able to heal him. He stood from his seat and stepped over to her, keeping his voice quiet but firm.

"Master, you need a break..."

Again shaking her head, Master Kanomin smiled serenely. "I'll be fine, Rech. Thank you." She glanced down at Mand, releasing a soft breath. "This was the break I needed. Seeing her doing...better...gives me hope." Returning her gaze to him, her smile fell the tiniest bit. "Master Rylka should be returning to you shortly. Let us know if you need anything."

Rech nodded as he watched her leave, and though he could even feel Mand's stable condition through the Force, in the back of his mind, he was still wary. Perhaps he was simply apprehensive about not having enough help on hand should Mand's systems suddenly crash, or maybe he had just become accustomed to the Masters' company over the weeks. Either way, he was beginning to relax with the thought that at least one of them would be coming back soon, allowing him the chance to rest as he hadn't for what seemed like days. Still standing at Mand's side, he returned his attention to her, gently lifting her hand into his. Her skin was ice cold, as he expected it to be, but it still unnerved him every time he touched her. She had basically put nonessential parts of her body into hibernation, halting cellular processes and restricting almost all blood circulation to her midsection and head. Her extremities were all lifeless, motionless, and every hour was such a test of his patience and his trust in her abilities...

Startling him from his thoughts, he heard a soft sniffle and a muffled sob behind him. Turning to look, he saw both Derek and Cordira sitting on the floor as they had been earlier, but Derek sat just beside Cordira and had his arm wrapped around her back, comforting her. He seemed sad, too, but Cordira was the one crying, though her face was buried in her hands. Carefully placing Mand's hand back down on the bed, he stepped closer to the two children and knelt down to them, keeping his voice soft.

"Cordira? What's wrong?"

As she raised her head up, Rech could see the patent fear in her slate gray eyes, reddened by tears she seemed to have been withholding for some time. Something was genuinely terrifying her.

"_Please _don't make me go back to school, Daddy..."

His heart sank as he heard the sheer anxiety in her voice, piercing him deeply as he felt how truly scared she was. She was beginning to sob more noticeably, and afraid of disturbing Mand with their discussion, he gently gripped her hand and stood with her, leading both her and Derek away. "Come on, let's sit outside and talk."

Cordira's grasp on his hand as they walked was nothing short of intense, and even when he pulled her into his lap after stooping to sit on a bench just outside the door, she kept a white-knuckled hold on a fistful of his tunic. Her small body was trembling against him as she cried more earnestly, and he could only rock her gently in his arms and smooth her fire-red hair with one hand to comfort her.

"I don't want to go back," she repeated in between sobs. "Please don't make me go..."

"You don't have to," he soothed quietly. "Not right now. No one's going back for a few days, at least."

She only cried harder. "_Please_, Daddy! I don't want to go back..."

He kissed the top of her head, hugging her even more tightly to try to calm her. "Cordira...I know it was very, _very _scary today... I'm so sorry. But it won't happen again, I _promise _you. They'll fix what was broken, and you won't even see it anymore. You'll be very safe at school."

"No," she continued sobbing, nearly obscuring her words, "no, he'll find us there! He'll find us, and he'll take us away!"

Completely blindsided and confused by her statement, he leaned down and shifted her on his lap to look her in the eyes. "He who? What are you talking about?"

She rubbed her face with the back of her hand to clear some of her tears, but they were quickly replaced as she answered. "The Scary Man. I don't want him to take us away!"

"No one's going to take you away, Cordira," he kept soothing, though he was steadily becoming more concerned himself. "Who is this 'scary man'? Have you seen him before?"

"I see him when I sleep," she sobbed, burying her face in his chest. "He has lumpy orange skin and a pointy mask covering his whole face. He'll find us and take us!"

Stunned, Rech could hardly breathe. The poor girl had been haunted by nightmares for a month or more, but she had stubbornly refused to talk about them until now. The day's events must have been too much for her to handle, and in trying to process it all, she fixated her overwhelming anxiety on her dreams instead. He felt terrible that he hadn't been able to address her fears before, but at the same time, how could he explain to her that something that seemed so scary to her wasn't really a threat? How would a five year old understand that what she was dreaming wasn't necessarily what was going to happen?

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't tell her that honestly. Mand had a history of being warned of future disasters by the Force through her dreams, so how much less likely could it be that Cordira, essentially a clone of her mother, was experiencing the same thing? Still, even if it were a vision of an event to come, there was little that could be done about it with the few details Cordira had provided. The Paneau Royal Guard would be on heightened alert after the disaster at the Academy this morning, so the children would be especially well protected from now on, wouldn't they?

"He won't take you, Cordira. You're safe here."

Her crying eventually abated as he continued to comfort her, holding her closely to himself to make her feel secure. Calmed but tired from her emotional release, she eased herself out of his embrace to stand on her own. Before she got far, though, he lightly gripped her shoulders and kissed her gently on her forehead. "I love you."

She nodded with an intermittent sniffle, but she only stared at the floor, not meeting his gaze. Derek stood quietly beside her, patiently waiting for her to acknowledge him again, but Cordira didn't look at him, either. Releasing a slow breath, Rech reached up and gently stroked her cheek, keeping his voice soft. "Go back inside, get some rest. It's almost bedtime for both of you."

Without a word, the two complied, returning to their corner in Mand's room and leaving Rech alone in the hall with two Royal Guards posted nearby. The guards only gave him an understanding nod when he looked up at them, leading him to assume they, too, were fathers. They remained silent, though, allowing him to recover his thoughts on his own.

Leaning back against the wall behind him, he ran a hand through his hair, finally beginning to realize just how emotionally and physically exhausted he was. Cordira's crying fit alone would have drained him considerably even if he had been fully rested, but he wasn't, and he could feel the weight of his fatigue in every muscle, every limb, robbing him of his will to move from the bench he sat on. He needed to be at Mand's side, though; he had already been away too long. He managed to muster the strength to stand, and as he looked up the hall before turning to go inside, he wasn't expecting to see Koril making his way toward Mand's room with a guard escort, nor was he expecting such a dark look on the High Commander's face.

"Koril?"

Only stopping a moment in front of his guards standing just beside the door, Koril ignored him. "Keep him out of the room," he ordered them with a foreign edge to his voice before he continued on inside, leaving Rech behind bewildered and in shock. The guards who had just shared an emotional, sympathetic moment with him now looked at him warily, calculatingly monitoring his every move. Why had their High Commander given them such an order?

"Koril? What are you doing?"

Rech stepped closer to the room's entry, and though the guards closed the gap between them, standing shoulder to shoulder between Rech and Mand's room, he could still see past them inside it, and he could only stare in disbelief. Standing beside Mand's bed, Koril was looking down on her with a harsh glare, as though he thought her guilty of something, but what?

"I know you can hear me," Koril told her intensely, closely leaned over her. He seemed to wait for a response from her, but when she remained motionless, he gripped her arm below her shoulder roughly, shaking her upper body. "You're going to wake up, and you're going to tell me how you knew that crash was going to happen."

Icy pangs of fear tore through his chest as he saw Mand beginning to stir, and anticipating his movement, the guards standing in front of him grabbed hold of his arms to hold him back. "No, Koril, don't! _Please_!"

But it was too late to reverse; the damage had already been done. The monitors around her bed began to beep frantically, indicating Mand's rapidly elevating heart rate that was reaching potentially dangerous levels. As she opened her eyes, though, her movements seemed sluggish, as though she wasn't completely free of her hibernation-like trance.

Undeterred, Koril gripped her arm more tightly, making her wince. "How did you know about that crash!"

Her voice was weak, but she answered truthfully with as much volume as she could summon. "I saw it...a vision..."

"Koril, stop!" Rech continued struggling against the guards who held him outside, but he, too, had little strength to resist, drained by the constant vigil he had kept beside her for so long.

"And you only cared to warn _your _daughter! Is she the only one that matters to you?" Koril tightened his grip once more, and she could only moan in pain in response. "What am I supposed to tell the parents of those children who died? That their sons and daughters weren't important enough to get the same warning? And what about the families of the instructors who died trying to protect their students? They died as heroes, but they shouldn't have died _at all_!"

The alarms were sounding louder and louder, but Mand somehow managed to maintain her gaze with Koril despite her intermittent gasping. "It came...so fast... I didn't have time...I'm sorry..."

"_Please, _stop!" Rech begged again, desperate to wrench himself free from the guards, but combined they were too much to overcome. "You're killing her!"

Koril completely ignored him, though his expression faltered with extreme turmoil. "Those children weren't even three years old! Why didn't they deserve a chance? Dirani...Dirani very nearly joined them. And so did Tavyna Jax."

With so many rapid changes in her system that hadn't been counteracted, Mand was slowly losing consciousness as she fought respiratory distress. She tried to speak, but it was incoherent as she continued to gasp, panicking Rech further. "Hang on, Mand! Just hang on for me, okay!" Looking to Koril, Rech could hardly keep his voice from shaking as he pleaded. "Fluid is backing up into her lungs because her heart's suddenly beating so fast and pumping so inefficiently. She is _drowning_! Please, let me help her!"

Flinching as though Rech had struck a nerve in him, Koril swiftly released his grip on Mand and left the room just as quickly, wordlessly passing his guards that still kept a tight hold on Rech. Only after Koril was nearly out of view down the hallway did the guards let him go, and he couldn't get to Mand's side fast enough.

"Mand? Stay with me, okay? You'll be alright, I promise." Though he wasn't expecting a response from her, seeing her so critical again mercilessly froze his own breath in his chest. As he began working to reverse the buildup in her lungs, two medics rushed inside to help, but he was quick to stop them. "Get those Jedi Masters back up here now!"

Though briefly hesitant, they both complied and left with haste, leaving him to work on his wife without distraction or interference. He first had to calm her racing heart, and after returning it to a slow pace that would have been dangerous without the accompanying hibernation trance, he could clear her lungs to breathe. It seemed to take hours, but working as quickly and carefully as he could, within a few minutes he was finally able to return enough of her systems to normal to silence all the alarms. She was breathing enough to keep ample oxygen circulating in her blood, and most importantly, the twins' vitals didn't seem to be adversely affected by the event.

Breathing heavily himself as he recovered from the anxiety and exertion, he thought back, recalling that he had never seen the twins' monitors fluctuate even once through it all. Mand had probably protected them from her distress, selflessly diverting everything they needed to them at her own expense. Worried that she may have suffered some kind of long term effect instead, he gently stroked her cheek, still somewhat in shock over what had just happened. Though he was momentarily lost in his thoughts, he heard a small noise behind him, and it wrenched his stomach into a searing knot; Derek and Cordira had witnessed the whole thing.

Turning back toward them, he felt his temper flaring as he saw them cowering against the wall together, holding each other tightly in fear. The looks of sheer terror on their faces in any other situation would have been enough to break him down, but it only infuriated him more. This was all Koril's fault.

"Stay here," he told them sternly as he took one last glance at Mand's vitals and left the room, surprised the guards were no longer outside it. They stood with their High Commander at the far end of the lengthy hall as he conversed with a number of officials, and they didn't see Rech approaching until it was nearly too late. Though they held him just beyond handshaking distance from Koril, he still raised his voice in anger.

"You are one _hell _of a coward!"

His discussion halted, Koril turned toward Rech, leveling a furious glare at him as his officials around him stared wide-eyed. Empowered by their reactions, Rech continued.

"You have _no _idea how or why this happened, so you've chosen to take it out on a helpless woman who can't even defend herself. How becoming of a High Commander!"

Koril's voice matched Rech's intensity, but he seemed to restrain himself somewhat with his officers beside him. "At least I'm not hiding behind her, using her as an excuse to ignore my duties."

"_My _duties?" Rech returned incredulously. "My 'duties' don't include serving you hand and foot! I have a family, too. Or do your kids take priority, even if my wife is dying?"

Jogging around the corner with urgency, Elena approached them, looking between Rech and Koril with obvious confusion. "_What _is going on!"

But neither answered her. "She ignored her duties, too," Koril continued harshly to Rech. "She could have saved so many more lives, not just Cordira's!"

Shedding the guards' hold, Rech raised his voice even more. "She saved _Derek _because she saved Cordira!"

Intent on diffusing the situation, Elena stepped between the two men, trying to speak calmly. "Rech, let's just -"

But he reached a hand up to her shoulders, forcefully moving her aside. "Stay out of this, Elena!"

Enraged, Koril lunged forward, gripping fistfuls of Rech's shirt to shove him to the wall. "_Don't_ touch my wife!"

Rech landed hard with his back and head against the wall, and he had begun to retaliate when the familiar _snap-hiss_ of a lightsaber igniting echoed through the hall. Though he half expected to see Elena's purple blade in her hand behind them, he knew the sound wasn't nearly that close; it had come from somewhere else entirely. Still locked in each other's grip against the wall, both Koril and Rech simultaneously realized that it had come from the direction of Mand's room.

Rech's heart stopped as a sense of dread filled him. "The children..."

Releasing the other at the same time, they broke into a sprint in tandem, quickly leaving Elena and the bewildered guards behind. As they closed in on the room, Rech already had his saber hilt in his hand, and Koril drew his blaster just before they stormed in the open door. The room was tossed and in shambles, one of the medics lay dead on the floor, and in a battle stance shielding Mand, Derek, and Cordira behind her, Ri Banarecc held a rose-colored lightsaber blade toward them, blood dripping down her face from a broken nose.


	16. Chapter 16

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Medical Center  
5.5 APC_

Swaying in place and dazed from her apparent injury, Ri lowered and powered down her saber as Rech approached her, carefully inspecting her bleeding nose as he steadied her by her shoulders. "Ri, what happened!"

She was breathing heavily from some kind of exertion, but she was very slow to respond. "He's gone... I fought him off."

Still on high alert behind them, Koril could hardly keep a haunted tone out of his voice. "He who? Who did this?"

Ri continued to sag in posture as her adrenalin rush ebbed, prompting Rech to ease her over to a chair to sit as he lifted her face up to him with a hand under her chin. "I don't know," she answered Koril hazily. "He was...very strong... A Kel Dor. I've never seen him before."

As Elena stepped over to the children, gathering them both up into her arms, Cordira sobbed quietly in Elena's hold opposite Derek. Her voice was so faint, it was almost inaudible. "It was the Scary Man..."

Stunned, Rech could hardly breathe as he turned to look at Cordira, putting it together. "You saw him, didn't you? Just before I left earlier?"

Tightening her arms around Elena's neck, Cordira nodded, still softly crying, and the realization tore at Rech's heart as he returned to the princess. "Ri...you just foiled a _kidnapping_."

Ri nodded weakly, having come to the same conclusion herself. "He was focused on the children when I came in. He had already killed the nurse..." As she watched a few guards respectfully covering the lifeless nurse with a sheet, she sighed with frustration and vainly brushed the back of her hand across her chin, clearing some of her blood from it. "I should have fought him harder. I should've stopped him..."

But Rech shook his head to dismiss her guilt, lightly placing his hand on the side of her face to begin healing her. "No, you did enough. I'm just glad you're okay."

Still standing just behind him with the children, Elena's voice quivered noticeably. "...Rech?"

He looked back to Elena in time to watch Koril and some of his guards leave the room quickly, presumably to track the would-be abductor. Still, before he could control it, a heavy, dark anger rolled through his thoughts for what Koril had done to Mand just minutes earlier. Addressing Elena's concerns was more pressing, though, so he released a shaky breath to subdue his feelings for the moment.

"Cordira's been having nightmares for a while now," he began quietly, and Elena quickly picked up on his meaning.

"Nightmares? Like what Mand used to have?"

Rech nodded solemnly. "She's seen this man before, in visions. She was trying to tell me...earlier, before...before Koril..."

He couldn't bring himself to explain it to Elena for some reason, perhaps because of their two children still present. The young ones had been traumatized enough for one day; he didn't need to verbally recount it all in front of them and force them to relive it.

Though she remained unaware of Koril's actions, Elena struggled to respond to Rech's revelation. She seemed more haunted by the thought that her son had very nearly been taken, that it had been foreseen...and that Rech and Koril's altercation had almost allowed it to take place. Before Elena could inquire further, though, Master Kanomin and Master Rylka both stepped into the room with urgency, surveying the scene with alarm. Still unwilling to mention the fight in front of the children, he intentionally directed their attention elsewhere for the time being.

"Someone attempted to kidnap the children, but Ri was able to thwart it. Master Rylka, could you take over helping to heal her broken nose? I need to check on Mand."

Thankfully, Master Rylka quickly agreed without asking questions, carefully tending to Ri as Rech left her side. Just as he stepped over to Mand, though, Elena spoke up once more, and her voice sounded even more emotional than before.

"Rech...I can't allow the children to stay here."

As he turned to her again, he could see her patent fear for their kids; she wasn't hiding much at all. But she was also visibly torn and conflicted, knowing that she had just confessed to Rech, in the presence of the two Jedi Masters, that she couldn't trust him to protect the children...and if he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame her. As he nodded, he took in a slow breath to quell his own worry, though to little avail.

"Where do you think they will be safest? The Manor?"

Considering it a moment, she shook her head, holding Derek more tightly to herself. "The Retreat."

He agreed, knowing that the Rys'tihn Retreat was the better choice. The Manor was situated near the busy capital city's borders, and the Retreat was easier to protect in its remote, isolated location. Though its security measures were much less visible in the serene mountainside setting, they were stealthier, and the whole compound was protected by covert agents and Elite Royal Guards alike. Still, the journey there could be the most dangerous, leaving him with an unsettled feeling.

"Master Kanomin...would you..."

Before he found the strength to finish his words, Master Kanomin was already nodding to accept his request. "Yes, I will accompany them there." She looked to Master Rylka and nodded, seeming to silently communicate with her so the Twi'lek remained undisturbed while still concentrating on healing Ri. Though he stayed at Mand's side, he held his hand out to Elena with Cordira to say goodbye to his daughter. Before Elena could step toward him, though, Cordira cried out, immediately tightening her hold around Elena's neck and shaking her head as she turned her head away from him. Completely unprepared for it, her reaction stole his breath; his heart seared fiercely with the knowledge that he had let her down, devastating her and inadvertently betraying the trust she had in him for her protection. As much as it hurt, he nodded after a long moment and lowered his hand, looking to Elena who seemed equally as disappointed.

"You take care of Mand," she told him curtly as she turned to leave. "I'll make sure the children stay safe."

"Elena..."

But she had already stepped out of the room with a Royal Guard escort, leaving Master Kanomin to give him an apologetic yet sympathetic look before she, too, quietly followed after Elena.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_

Standing at the end of the _Celestia_'s lowered rear ramp, Elena stared out the hangar's yawning boundaries into the deepening twilight sky that surrounded her home. She was flanked by Royal Guards from the Manor, and though they were facing the same direction as she, they were on high alert and were thankfully leaving her to process her thoughts in silence. Minutes seemed to have dragged on for hours since the attack that morning, making the day seem that much longer, but at least it was finally coming to a close. The promise of sleep offered little relief, though, as she knew she would be getting little herself, worried instead about her children and the dangerous man who could be following them...

Why was someone after them? Was it simply a random, opportunistic strike once Rech, Koril, and the Royal Guards had left the room unsecured? Or had this Kel Dor sought them out and just happened to attack when the children were alone? What would have happened had Ri not intervened just in the nick of time? And how did that disaster at the Academy fit into all this? Surely it wasn't related to the kidnapping attempt, was it?

Shaking the thought from her head, she glanced back toward the hangar's entrance from the Manor just as Kaydee stepped up beside her.

"Mistress Elena, are you alright?"

She gave the protocol droid a hesitant nod, hopefully keeping her heavy internal turmoil out of her tone. "Yes, Kaydee, I'm fine."

Kaydee didn't seem to notice. "Pardon my intrusion, but might I travel with you and the children, Mistress Elena? They are familiar with my presence, and I am happy to provide a distraction for them while they are being taken someplace they do not know well."

Surprised by the droid's unsolicited wisdom, she gave a small smile as she nodded again. "I would appreciate that. Thank you, Kaydee."

Kaydee bowed slightly as she accepted her duties and stepped aboard the _Celestia_, but Master Kanomin was quick to take the droid's place, returning Elena's expression to its previous worry. Where Kaydee would immediately voice her queries aloud without inhibition, Master Kanomin needed no words to ask Elena what was on her mind.

She was, however, reluctant to answer the petite Jedi Master's silent question. Master Kanomin would have already deduced that Elena's primary concern was for the well-being of her children, but the sympathetic look in her eyes meant she knew there was something else troubling her, something Elena hadn't yet dared to speculate about...

Even as quietly as she spoke, her voice still trembled. "I don't know what happened, Master...what Koril did..."

Master Kanomin's eyes softened with understanding. "Nor do I," she answered just as gently. She took in and released a slow breath, glancing behind herself at the doorway to the Manor where Kollie and Raen were returning with the young ones in their arms and traveling bags at their sides. Though Dirani was fast asleep in Kollie's hold, neither Derek nor Cordira looked tired as they walked with their nannies, despite the late hour of the evening; their eyes remained full of fear and sadness instead. "But it would appear...that the children do."

Stunned, Elena could hardly keep her volume low. "I am _not_ asking them, not after all they've been through today."

But Master Kanomin was undeterred. "They would give you an honest answer. Would Rech? Would your husband?"

In all the years Elena had known Master Kanomin, she would have never expected the Jedi Master to be so...heartless in such an emotional situation; she could easily feel her cheeks flushing with embarrassment and rising frustration. "I'm not going to force them to pit their fathers against each other. They don't need to be in the middle of this."

Master Kanomin's eyes sharpened, intensifying in light warning, but her voice remained soft. "They already are."

As Kollie and Raen reached the two Jedi, Master Kanomin silently stepped aside to allow them to board the _Celestia_, and after holding Elena's gaze a long moment, she followed them inside, as well.

As much as Elena was determined to remain angry with Master Kanomin for her sudden, uncharacteristic lack of compassion...in the back of her mind, she knew the elder Jedi had a point. But even though she desperately sought answers about what had happened, the emotional state of the children was far more important to her at the moment, especially as they recovered from the trauma of a near-kidnapping. Cordira had remained especially upset, as she had been plagued by visions of the attempt and remained terrified that it would play out a second time. Was she the target? Was Derek? Or were they both?

Interrupting the silence that had returned, one of the guards' comlinks beeped, preceding the roar of a ship's engines as it approached the hangar.

"High Commander Rys'tihn arriving in the Manor's main hangar," an unfamiliar voice announced over the comm, bringing another group of guards from inside the Manor to meet him. A smaller shuttle swooped in and landed gracefully just beside the Celestia, and though Elena heard Master Kanomin's words reverberating in her thoughts, that she wouldn't get an honest answer out of Koril, she stood in place at the end of the yacht's ramp to talk to him anyway.

Only two guards stepped out of the shuttle ahead of their High Commander, but Elena was surprised to see Major Jax follow along behind him, expecting him to have remained with his recovering daughter in the med center. He was loyal to his duty to a fault, she knew, and perhaps he thought his High Commander needed him more urgently. Even more worried, she returned her focus to Koril's expression, studying him as they approached. He seemed...calm, albeit confused as he watched her in turn, but she could tell before he even spoke that something wasn't quite right with him. She hoped it wasn't a repeat of what he had gone through before she returned from Montar months ago... She wasn't losing him again, was she?

"Did you find the Kel Dor?"

The look in Koril's eyes remained uncertain, prompting Major Jax to answer for him as he stepped up beside him. "Not yet, m'lady, but the search is ongoing. We'll catch him."

She nodded to Jax, appreciating his assistance, but returning to Koril, she felt her hands beginning to tremble the longer he remained silent. His gaze shifted to focus on the ship's occupants behind her, and he finally found his voice to speak.

"They said you were leaving."

The fear she detected in his voice, however slight it was, pained her deeply, and though it was more of a statement than a question, she still felt compelled to answer him.

"I'm taking the children to the Retreat."

With her words, his expression visibly faltered, reflecting the shock that had suddenly brought clarity to his eyes. He seemed to immediately understand what her decision implied, and the first expression of shame she had seen from him, he lowered his gaze to the floor, his brows furrowed with conflict. Her heart ached to comfort him, and though she could easily sense his pain, she couldn't bring herself to move, nor could she ask him what he had done...

"Don't take the ship," he managed weakly, still looking down. "He could follow you. Take the Retreat tunnels."

She had intended to fly there to minimize the strain of travel on the children...but he was right; they would be virtually impossible to follow through the underground kilometers-long passageways that connected the Rys'tihn Manor to the Retreat. Despite his obvious regret for whatever he had done to Mand and the argument he had with Rech, he was still able to think clearly enough about the safety of his family to suggest the change in her plans. She swallowed hard after a moment, nodding slightly as she glanced at Major Jax, but she couldn't keep her voice steady as she turned her head to address the others in the _Celestia_.

"Kollie, Raen...we're going the long way."

She heard them shuffling through the cabin, collecting their bags and other belongings they had prepared to take, and as they all gathered on the ramp behind her, she wordlessly stepped away from Koril, leading them toward a nearby tunnel entrance. He said nothing as she left, and it took all of her willpower to not look back as she continued walking...

"Elena..."

Though she had ignored Rech's call in the same manner earlier, she was easily swayed by the subtle pleading tone in Koril's voice. She slowed to a stop, sidestepping to allow the others to continue on toward the tunnels without her. As she turned to face him once more, she watched as he opened his mouth to speak...but he made no sound. Was he going to explain himself or apologize, and couldn't find the right way to say it? Or had he changed his mind and was going to order her to stay? His lips continued moving to partially form words, but he still was unable to say anything. Despite a desperate look that had begun to form in his eyes, Elena took in a deep breath as she turned around again, refusing to blink as tears began building in her own eyes.

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

Though the trip from the Manor to the Retreat via an underground tram had taken the better part of an hour, Master Kanomin had remained silent at Elena's side. Actually, none of the travelers had spoken a word, Elena realized as they all began climbing the steps to the Retreat; Kaydee had even managed to keep her usual vocal thoughts to herself, which was unusual. Perhaps the droid had picked up on their collective sullen mood without being informed of such, a first for the social and always amiable Rys'tihn Family servant. Whatever the reason, Elena was silently thankful for it, hoping it continued for the duration of their stay at the Retreat.

Cradling Dirani against her shoulder as she slept, Elena reached the last step and pulled her Rys'tihn Crest over her head, pressing the pendant against a sensor built into the wall. The door quietly swept open, allowing them passage into one of the Retreat's main hallways where a group of workers awaited them.

"M'lady," Witt Larkan, the Retreat's staff leader, greeted her with a gentle bow. "The upstairs bedrooms are prepared and ready for the children."

"Thank you, Witt," she nodded, turning to watch the other three women step into the hallway with Kaydee behind them. Master Kanomin held Cordira's hand at her side, and Kollie had gathered a sleepier Derek into her arms, leaving Raen empty-handed to take Dirani from her. "Please get them settled into bed," she asked them, lightly kissing Dirani on the forehead as she woke with movement. "I'll be up to check on them later."

Raen carefully situated Dirani in her hold, lightly rocking the girl back to sleep as the three and Kaydee agreed and followed Larkan up to the bedrooms for the night. She watched them leave with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that left her even more unsettled than she had been earlier. It was as though something was telling her that although they were safely sequestered in the fortress-like security of the Retreat, somehow danger remained, locking her senses in a dense haze...

"Elena?"

Startled by being addressed by her first name, she turned to see Garran approaching her in the hallway, a thick stack of data pads in his arms. He gave her a weak smile when she met his gaze, but it faded quickly as he studied her face; she gave him an even smaller smile in return.

"Garran, I'm glad you're still up."

Glancing between the rest of the Retreat staff that remained around Elena, his voice softened. "I was just heading to bed. Is...everything alright?"

She released a shaky sigh, extending her hand to direct him toward the main gathering room ahead. "Let's sit down and talk." With a gracious nod, she dismissed the staff who seemed to be expecting an order from her, and once they left, she and Garran sat in the very same places they had taken mere days ago.

"Garran," she began carefully as he unloaded his arms onto a table in front of them, "...I need you to stay indoors for now."

Although confused, he nodded. "Okay..." As she expected, his curiosity quickly took over. "What happened today? Cade left this morning and hasn't been back since. The entire staff has been very...quiet, and they won't tell me anything."

Taking in a slow breath, she steeled her nerves for a concise summary of the day's events. "There was an attack at the school this morning. A ship crashed into one of the buildings, and we still don't know if it was intentional or not. Then while we were all at the medical center...someone tried to kidnap the children. I brought them here because they will be safe here. You will be safe here, too, but like I said, I need you to stay inside."

Despite looking slightly haunted, Garran nodded to accept her order after a moment, thinking through everything she had said. "Those were your children?"

"Two of the three. The red-haired girl, Cordira, is our friends' daughter. Derek and Dirani are mine."

Again he nodded, his expression softening. "I'm sorry... I'll try to look after them while they're here."

His innocence and genuine willingness to help warmed her heart, making her smile once more. "I appreciate that...but I really just want you to look after yourself right now. I don't think there's any particular threat to you specifically...but I just want you to be careful, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Of course."

Gripping his shoulder as an expression of her gratitude, she nodded as she slowly stood from his side. "I'll be back later. I need to talk to...Cade..." She had only just been able to stop herself from mentioning their relationship, but thankfully Garran didn't seem to notice. He only looked reticent for being unable to provide more information.

"I don't know where he went..."

She gave him a reassuring look to dismiss his regret as she began to leave. "I think I do."


	17. Chapter 17

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Dalon Medical Center  
5.5 APC_

Though Rech wasn't sure how much more exhausted he could feel, he had refused to leave his wife's side. Healing efforts had gone on throughout the night, and though Mand was no longer in critical condition, Rech was far from relieved. Master Kanomin had returned from the Rys'tihn Retreat only a few hours prior, and after a brief meditation, she took over for Rech, allowing him the chance to rest. He didn't take it, of course, but instead he looked Mand over, studying her appearance as he hadn't since the disturbing events of the previous night.

Mid-morning sunlight filtering into the room from a window beside Mand's bed cast a warm, gentle glow across her still body. After her treatment team repeatedly encountered difficulty ridding her lungs of the fluid backup from her stressed heart, her bed had been angled to position her more upright and ease her breathing. Though she had been laying in that manner for several hours through the night, Rech was only just beginning to notice how much more pronounced her swollen stomach seemed to be, and his reaction caught him by surprise. Suddenly overcome with emotion, he briefly wavered in place, bringing a hand to his forehead as all his cares and worries weighed heavily on his chest. He had so earnestly focused on repairing the damage that had been done during the confrontation with Koril that he hadn't truly allowed himself to process his feelings, and the returning fear and betrayal was almost incapacitating. Finally able to, he drew in a trembling breath that caught Master Kanomin's attention as she stood opposite him at Mand's side.

"Rech," she began with gentle sympathy, "you need to sleep. I know you haven't."

He determinedly shook his head, running his hand through his hair to futilely quell his trembling and his breathing that quickened with his anxiety. No, he couldn't leave her. He needed to stay with her; his fatigue was a small price to pay for his failure to protect her. If he hadn't stepped outside the room the night before, he could have stopped Koril's attack and none of this would have happened...

_Rech..._

Feeling his anger returning, he shook his head once more. "No, Master. I am _not_ going anywhere..."

But as he looked up at the Jedi Master and met her confused and somewhat alarmed gaze, he realized...she wasn't the one who had spoken, and it hadn't even spoken been aloud.

As they both returned their attention to Mand, her eyes slowly began to flutter open, much to Rech's dismay.

"Mand?" he breathed in disbelief, glancing up at her monitors over her head. "Mand, what are you doing? You need to stay under the trance. You're not fully recovered yet..."

With the aid of a breath mask over her face, her breathing remained slow and even as it had for hours, and though she was fully alert, her heart rate didn't change. How was she remaining conscious, then? Knowing that she couldn't keep it up for long, he began lending her what little energy he had left himself, leaning closer to hear her as she began to speak slowly and very softly.

"Please...don't be mad at Koril."

As he heard her words, he struggled to swallow as his mouth went dry. He felt his heart changing, hardening with pain and anger once more, and it would be another full minute before he could formulate a calm response in his shock.

"...after what he did to you? After what could've happened to the twins?"

Though her eyelids fell heavily at lengthy intervals, her gaze remained sharp and almost pleading. "I protected them...from any harm... And I knew you...you and the Masters would...be able to save me..."

"Mand..." he whispered, shaking his head as his voice broke with anguish. "He almost killed you. How can you ignore that? How can you expect me to?"

"He just wanted...answers."

Was she even hearing anything he was saying? "So that gives him the right to...interrogate you and hurt you, like you had been involved in it? Nevermind your delicate state, there's no excuse for him to do that to _anyone_."

She finally took in a longer, deeper breath, but the effort seemed to have cost her more energy than she had anticipated. Her eyes closed drowsily for a lengthy moment, and she struggled to reopen them once more. "He's...scared...and upset..."

Though he knew she would feel his trembling, he gently lifted her hand into his, folding her frigid fingers with his. His voice hardly worked. "So am I." He held her hand so delicately, sweeping his thumb over her skin so carefully, yet he still feared he'd harm her somehow, as if the slightest pressure would bruise her. With so much of her body shut down to give the twins everything they need to develop, he knew she had to be so fragile... He couldn't bear to see what Koril's grip on her arm had done to it.

"Mand," he began quietly again, his remaining strength dwindling. "I can't lose you...or these girls. I'm supposed to protect you, and I didn't..." His voice caught in his throat again, forcing him to shakily expel the rest of his breath before he could continue. The next breath was just as difficult. "I promised you that I would do...whatever it took to save our twins. I never thought that I'd have to save them from...from our _friend_." Nearly furious once more, he couldn't blink for fear of shedding hot tears that had built up in his eyes. "I can't...I _can't_ forgive him for this. Not right now."

As if his words had just sunken in, her eyes deepened with understanding he hadn't yet seen. Even though she was wholly focused on regulating her own systems with the Force, there was no way she could ignore the anger and betrayal freely radiating from him. He wasn't holding anything back since it seemed to be the only way to get through to her, and her response worried him even more. For the first time since she had put herself into her hybrid hibernation trance...he felt her fingers slowly tightening around his.

"This...is not the time for division... The children -"

"The children," he interrupted curtly, "were in danger because of Koril's actions!"

He could hardly hear her response. "But you were the one...who chose to leave them alone in here."

Unable to hold them back any longer, he brought his free hand to his face to hide his shame as the tears finally fell down his burning cheeks. As much as he didn't want to admit it, she was right; he shared the fault in his own anxiety, he realized, though he had only sought to blame Koril for it. Wracked with silent sobs, he began to loosen his grip from Mand's hand...but she only held more tightly to him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her in such a state, but she continued to speak anyway.

"The children are safe now," she whispered with a faint hint of hope, "and the twins...will suffer no lasting effects. The only thing that needs to be salvaged...is a friendship."

He should have expected such graceful wisdom from his wife in a moment so rife with despair. She understood well the heavy burden of responsibility for his family he carried alone; she was fighting for two new lives at the same time. He knew he needed to forgive Koril for his uncharacteristic behavior...but it had never been so difficult before. Had the outcome been different, he wouldn't even have considered it, but for Mand's sake, he at least owed her an attempt.

He swallowed hard as he gently wrapped both of his hands around hers, and with a shaky breath, he nodded. "I'll try. But I need you to just focus on you and the twins right now, okay? Let me worry about everything else."

Though her eyes were only just barely open, he could still see her disappointment; she could sense his struggle, he knew, but so emotionally exhausted from the exchange and the previous night's events, he couldn't hide it. What surprised him, though, was even more compassion from her. She slowly squeezed his hand once more, comforting him the way he should have been tending to her instead...

"Don't forget...your promise..."

His voice caught in his throat. How could he? "I won't."

After a long, silent moment, the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as her eyes slowly closed, and once again, she was deathly motionless. He couldn't help but watch the monitors over her head for anything that would betray her tranquil state...but miraculously, they remained quiet. If Master Kanomin hadn't stepped up behind him and gently gripped his shoulder, he wouldn't have had any cue to break him out of his own trance as he monitored her condition.

"Rech..."

Did he really have to repeat himself? "I am not leaving her, Master. Not again. Not until this is all over."

As he turned to look at the elder Jedi, he met nothing but sympathy in her expression and in her voice as she released him. "I know, and I'm not asking you to. You do need to keep up your strength, though; you can't help her if you've no energy left to give." He began to look away, unwilling to hear the reprimand that he felt coming, and it seemed to irritate her. She raised her voice just slightly, suddenly sounding more stern in response to his stubbornness. "I can't stand to see you like this, Rech, especially when I know just how much you are capable of when you are at your best. If you carry on like this for much longer without a proper recovery...I'm afraid that Master Rylka and I won't be able to make up the difference."

The shock on his face must've been more evident than he had intended. Master Kanomin had never been one to speak so severely to him, and it was very nearly a threat. He knew she was only interested in helping Mand as much as possible, and if he was honest with himself, Master Kanomin's demands were exactly what he needed to hear from someone whose mind was far more clear than his. Though still in a bit of a stupor, he nodded to appease her, and her expression softened once more.

"She is much more stable right now than I would have expected her to be after what happened. Whatever she's doing, and however we're helping her...it seems to be working. This should serve as a reminder to you that we just have to take things as they come. If you spend every moment of every day at her side, waiting for something to happen...she will far outlast you, I've no doubt." She quieted her voice even still, gently gripping Rech's arm to further emphasize her words. "You trusted her skills, her strength enough to begin this process in the first place. Have _faith_ in her. She will let us know when something's wrong."

Though he was too drained to argue any further, he was also unable to respond with much more than a weak nod. He couldn't muster the will to move from where he stood, either, until he felt the faintest, lightest touch on his cheek... Mand's touch through the Force.

"Okay," he whispered, carefully bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss it. She wanted him to rest, too, and even as subtle as it was, she had to have used valuable energy to share her feelings in such a way. For that, he owed her his compliance.

As gently as he could, he placed her hand delicately atop her stomach and covered it with his for a tender moment, looking on her with weary eyes before he withdrew and managed to lay down on a nearby cot without collapsing. Whether it was Mand's doing or Master Kanomin's, he didn't much care; sleep hadn't come so easily to him in almost a month.

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

Rubbing fatigue from her eyes after an all-night meeting with a number of Ghost Heirs, almost all except for the one she wanted to speak to the most, Elena was hardly surprised to encounter a number of Retreat staff awaiting her return in the hallway. It was as if they had been told to expect her exiting the hidden, restricted tunnel at that very spot, and they all collectively held their breath as they so graciously allowed her to speak first.

"Quiet night?"

"Yes, m'lady," Witt Larkan answered eagerly. "Nothing out of the ordinary. The children even slept well."

Gauging just how well her staff was informed, she glanced between them and watched their reactions closely. "Any news on the hunt for the Kel Dor?"

Most of the servants, including Larkan, looked as clueless or regretful as she expected, save for one young man at the back of the crowd who opened his mouth to respond, but only just stopped himself before he formed his first word. Their gazes met, and instantly, he knew he had been made as Milowi Jax's replacement, a Rys'tihn covert agent on staff for the family's protection. He would have been kept well-appraised of any developments by Cade, and with the Master Ghost Heir nowhere to be found, he was the best chance she had at getting any intel.

The agent seemed to cringe slightly, fearing public backlash from her, as if her reputation among the covert agents indicated such a reaction. But surprising even herself, she said nothing, more interested in what he knew. Milowi had been such a vital asset to her family's safety recently after a string of near-disasters, and discovering that a replacement had been embedded where he could quickly take action was a comfort she never thought she'd appreciate. It was a comfort she never thought she'd need, either, but a foiled kidnapping attempt was definitely going to keep her on guard for months, maybe even years to come.

Before she had the chance to request to see the agent privately, Larkan spoke up with urgency he hadn't exhibited before. "M'lady...the king has requested to see you."

With all that had been going on the past few days, a meeting with King Verojec wasn't altogether unexpected, but she wasn't sure how mentally prepared she could be for it without a chance to sleep, much less even meditate since the disaster at the Academy...

"I'll go as soon as I...freshen up a bit. It was a long night."

She began to step towards the main staircase to visit her bedroom for the first time since arriving at the Retreat the previous day, but Larkan stopped her, albeit reluctantly.

"But m'lady...he's _here_. In the main banquet hall."

Momentarily stunned, she blinked. "Here," she repeated blankly, studying Larkan's hesitant expression. Though they hadn't exactly rushed her to the banquet hall as soon as she arrived, she was becoming increasingly worried that such a sudden, private meeting with the king meant that something urgently needed her attention. Coming to her senses, she nodded, absentmindedly patting wrinkles from her tunic as she began walking toward the hall.

The Retreat staff followed her most of the way, stopping just outside the doors and offering their silent support for her as she prepared to go inside. Despite her anxiety that was increasing by the moment, she was able to give them a small, wan smile in return as she pressed the door's panel to open it. She took in a deep breath to steel her nerves, stepping inside with haste but keeping her expression free of the alarm she felt in the back of her mind.

Though she had anticipated meeting Jec alone, he stood beside his counterpart Seyiri Ordeel at a sculpture against the far wall. They were engaged in a solemn, quiet conversation with each other, but it was Seyiri who spotted Elena first, shifting Jec's attention to her, as well.

"Your Highness, Seyiri," Elena addressed them as they approached each other in the middle of the grand room. She had begun to ask them about their presence at the Retreat, but it soon left her mind as she looked on the young woman, the first time she had seen Seyiri in two years. The quiet, reserved Ordeel girl had, like Jec, matured so much in Elena's absence, and as she stood in front of Paneau's likely future queen, she suddenly found herself struck by Seyiri's subtle beauty. The blond-haired, green-eyed girl easily outshone Jec as they stood together, and Elena couldn't help but notice just how perfect of a pair they seemed to be...

"Elena," Seyiri began with concern, "we heard what happened to the children at the medical center yesterday. Are they alright?"

Brought back to recent events, Elena struggled to speak with a dry throat. "They were a bit...rattled, but yes, they're fine. We have your sister to thank for that, Jec. She saved them."

Jec nodded in agreement, though he and Seyiri still exchanged worried glances. "We'll find him, Elena," he pledged. "The children will be safe."

She gave him an appreciative smile, but it soon faded with a lengthening silence between them. Both Jec and Seyiri seemed anxious yet also reluctant to continue, but gently taking Seyiri's hand at his side, Jec eventually mustered the courage to speak up once more.

"We're sorry to have disturbed you here. We know it's your private family retreat...but we wanted to talk to you in person."

Even more worried, Elena hardly breathed. "It's no trouble... What's wrong, Jec?"

With another concerned glance at Seyiri, Jec released a cautious sigh before he returned to Elena. "Were you here on Paneau when...my father and Tascit married?"

Completely unprepared for the question, she struggled to think, much less answer him. Jec's father King Veon had married his most trusted advisor Tascit Arosc in a secret ceremony during the Huxnel Invasion nearly twelve years ago, surprising most who had been close to the monarch. They had been able to keep their relationship exceptionally quiet, Elena learned, only releasing the news of their marriage amid concerns for the Royal Family's safety. It was discovered soon after their announcement that Tascit was pregnant with Ri, which fueled rumors a young Jedi Academy student had no intention of believing. She had only known the king and new queen for a few days at most, and all she had seen from them was their steadfast resolve to protect their people and each other. Finally able to rummage through her rough memories of that disastrous first mission, she could remember the exact moment she had been informed of the marriage...as both Elena and Veon sat in the same cell aboard a Huxnel cruiser, prisoners of the ruthless pirates.

"I was on Paneau, yes, but...I wasn't there at the actual ceremony. I learned about it later, along with everyone else."

Jec nodded after a moment, looking somewhat disappointed, as if he had been expecting a different response. Confused, Elena held her breath, waiting for an explanation behind his question...

"Seyiri and I have discussed this at length," he continued carefully, gazing down at her as he held even more tightly to her hand between both of his. When he looked back up at Elena, his expression had become more resolute. "We want to do the same thing."

Reading the unsure reaction Elena had, Seyiri continued. "We want to marry in a private ceremony now, then have a more formal, public celebration later, once things have...settled down."

Jec explained further, as well. "I want to be able to extend to Seyiri the same security and protection that I have. If we're married, then my Scepter Guard will do anything to protect her, too."

Feeling as though she could collapse in relief at any moment, Elena somehow managed to keep her legs under her as she briefly closed her eyes. "I understand," she answered with a noticeably shaky voice. "You know that whatever you two decide to do, I will fully support you."

Jec had only discussed his intent to propose to Seyiri a few weeks ago, but with all that had been going on, Elena had never learned if Seyiri had ever been asked or if she had accepted. The answer to both seemed to be yes, and even amid the pain and chaos and uncertainty they'd all encountered recently, Elena finally felt a lightness in her heart she had almost forgotten.

With a small nod, Jec's face lit up with a small smile. "We know. That's why we want you to be our witness."

His request hadn't fully sunken in before a smile spread across her face, as well, and her eyes filled with emotional tears. She brought a trembling hand to her mouth as an excited laugh escaped, and once she could take in a breath again, she nodded. "It would be...an unbelievable honor."

Happy with her response, Jec and Seyiri both smiled broadly, looking as blissful as a young couple should.

"We'll send a shuttle for you at sundown."

Blinking in surprise, Elena's expression fell. "Tonight?"

Seyiri looked sympathetic. "We know it takes you away from your family..."

But Elena shook her head after a moment, considering her situation. She could spend the entire day with her children, and they wouldn't know of her absence once they were asleep. "It's alright. They'll be safe here." The thought returned a smile to her face, putting Jec and Seyiri at ease once more.

"We'll see you tonight, then," Jec concluded with muted enthusiasm, wrapping an arm tightly around Seyiri's shoulders as they left quietly together. Elena remained in place in the banquet hall for a few minutes, though, sorting through the whirlwind of feelings she had just experienced. At least there was something pure and innocent to come out of this tumultuous time, and being part of it was just the kind of emotional lift she needed.


	18. Chapter 18

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
__Royal Forces Security Center  
__5.5 APC_

It had been a number of weeks since a morning had been so unkind to him, but Koril's insomnia was mostly self-induced. How could he have slept, knowing what he had done to his closest friends? Friends who had saved his life, friends who had refused to give up the search for him for months after the Huxnel had disappeared with him, friends who had introduced him to the Jedi Knight who ultimately became his wife and mother of his children. Unable to any other way, his grief and guilt manifested as constant nausea, and his hands shook incessantly despite his best efforts to steady them. He could hardly maintain a grip on the datapad he held, having finished drafting his resignation on it hours earlier. He stared hard at its screen, lost in the surrealism of the words it displayed; he had composed them himself, yet he still wasn't sure he could fully grasp what they meant. There was no other option, he had convinced himself, especially since he had absolutely no explanation for his actions. He had done more than enough damage. Why his own guards hadn't already removed him from duty, he didn't know.

Alone in his office, he sat in the same chair behind his desk he had been at since returning to the Security Center late the previous night, finding the Manor empty after Elena left with the children. She had even taken Cordira Natiyr and Kaydee with her, leaving just waitstaff and night guards, none of which he knew very well. Close company wouldn't have helped, though; he needed solitude, and he knew his staff at his office would obey his order to leave him undisturbed unless necessary. He had hundreds of guards and investigators on the hunt for the Kel Door who had attempted to take his children, and only if they had news of his whereabouts or capture were they to enter Koril's office...

Though he hardly noticed the sound of the door at the other end of the room opening, he didn't hear any accompanying footsteps approaching, keeping him in his place. Still, something in the back of his mind told him he was no longer alone, but he didn't believe it until he was addressed.

"...High Commander?"

The voice belonged to Major Jax, whom he had sent home after leaving the Manor the night before. The passage of time was only just beginning to register, aided by the bright, mid-morning light filtering into the office from the tall window behind him. Jax wouldn't have known of the mandate Koril had given to his officers, but hopefully the major had news to bring.

As Koril looked up from his desk, though, he wasn't expecting to see someone else standing beside Jax. Master Kanomin, nearly a head shorter than the major, folded her hands calmly in front of her, seeming to await some kind of reaction from Koril as she studied him closely. Koril stared blankly between the two, unsure of the reason for their visit until Jax's expression became reticent. He had brought Master Kanomin with him for a reason, and knowing that the last Koril had seen of her had been at Mand's side in the Dalon Med Center, Koril could infer that Jax had asked the Jedi Master to become a mediator of sorts.

Feeling slightly betrayed, he placed the datapad on his empty desk as nonchalantly as he could and stood from his chair, stepping over to the window to look out onto the Security Center campus. He crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to hide his trembling as he stood with his back to them, but he knew that wouldn't fool Master Kanomin for long. A long, heavy silence continued for a moment before he heard only one pair of footsteps behind him, and the longer he listened, the more he realized that they were leaving, not closing in on him. Major Jax was the one who had left, he knew, but how was he to even begin explaining himself to Master Kanomin when he still didn't believe or understand his own actions?

"What's on the datapad, Koril?"

Master Kanomin had read him as plainly as a holobook the first time they had met, almost to the point where he believed she was reading his mind. Even as emotionally distressed as he was, she could still see through his facade.

"My resignation," he answered with a rough voice. Though he had tried to hide it with terse body language, his voice unwittingly expressed his severe fatigue. "I'm unfit for duty...so I'm removing myself from it."

Another long moment passed before he heard Master Kanomin slowly step towards him, her footsteps light as though she walked on her toes. He didn't turn to her until she stood just beside him, looking up at him with nothing but compassion.

"You are not unfit, Koril," she began softly, "but rather...you are untrained."

Taken aback by her statement, he stared at her blankly, which she again read so easily.

"Let's sit down and talk."

She gestured so gracefully toward a nearby couch, and compelled to comply, he numbly walked over and sat down as she followed not far behind. As he sat, he felt his entire body sag forward under the weight of his grief, forcing him to hold his head in his hands with his elbows propped up on his knees. Master Kanomin remained reserved beside him, but when he didn't take the opportunity to speak first, she spoke up again gently.

"Tell me what happened yesterday, Koril."

Every time he decided on a way to begin, his breath caught in his chest, preventing him from answering. Still trembling, he struggled to even swallow, making his words that much harder to force out.

"I don't know," he finally managed, sounding as scared as he felt. "I've been trying to understand it, but...I can't explain it."

Sympathetic as ever, Master Kanomin's voice was so gentle. "Then tell me what you can explain."

He took in and released a number of shaky breaths, summoning the courage he needed to confess his transgression to her. All he could think to do was start from the last thing he remembered clearly from that night...

"I had gone to visit Tavyna Jax... She had been injured in the shuttle crash at the Academy, and...I wanted to see how she was doing, and ask her father if he recalled anything else about the event. He was there, when it happened, and he did remember seeing smoke trailing behind the shuttle before it crashed, meaning it all might've just been an accident... And all I could think about was that Mand had warned her daughter, saved her from harm...but no one else got a warning.

"Dirani," his voice broke as he said her name, overcome with emotion, "...Dirani nearly died. Tavy lost her foot. Swip lost a sister. So much loss...and I kept coming back to Mand, wondering how she knew about it, why she hadn't warned others... With every step I took out of that room, I became angrier and angrier, and it was all I could focus on.

"Everything was suddenly...blurry," he struggled to explain his memories, "and it was like I was watching it all unfold...from across the room, while someone else stood there...in my body." Looking up to Master Kanomin for the first time since they had sat down, his voice nearly disappeared in his sorrow and disbelief. "I couldn't stop... I just watched as...as I demanded answers out of Mand. I shook her, I woke her out of her trance, I...I even ordered my guards to not allow Rech into the room."

Completely overwhelmed, his chest tightened moment by moment with anxiety, threatening to suffocate him. With his head in his hands again, he fought for his breath, but it wasn't until Master Kanomin lightly touched his shoulder that he was finally able to take in a long, deep breath. He could only release it as short, muffled sobs, and once he had calmed enough, though not completely, he continued.

"I knew...I _knew_ I was hurting her, in the back of my mind, but...I had to find out. I forced it out of her, stressed her system so much...she was suffocating...and I've been nothing but sick since."

Master Kanomin's silence was both comforting and defeating at the same time. She sat so serenely beside him, seemingly processing everything he had just told her carefully, but what surprised him the most was that her expression remained unchanged. She wasn't passing judgment on him or disappointed by his actions; at least, if she was, she wasn't showing any signs of it. In a way, the Jedi Master reminded him of his own mother, always searching for a lesson out of every situation...

"The first thing you need to know about all this, Koril," she began quietly, "...is that Mand bears no ill will against you."

Stunned, he gave a short, disgusted laugh, unimpressed with such a cruel joke. "She should."

Master Kanomin only shook her head delicately. "She doesn't. I heard her say so myself this morning."

He still refused to believe it. "Then she is not in the right mind."

"Oh, she is. I know she is."

How could Master Kanomin possibly be so adamant about it? She hadn't been there when he had attacked Mand, or she wouldn't have been able to even make eye contact with him, much less sit in the same room with him. What did she know?

"Koril," she continued carefully, "Mand is _the_ last person who would ever fault you for what you went through."

He blinked. "...I almost killed her."

"But you said you were watching yourself from elsewhere, and you weren't in control." He nodded, allowing her to continue. "You were opened to the Force recently, more than what you had been used to before. In someone who hadn't been trained to...harness that change, it very easily could have translated into an episode like this, where your intense emotions took over before you could recover. Mand recognized that about you. Someone with her...background would've seen it very easily."

A little unsure what exactly she was telling him, he tried to think through it. "My...emotions took over?"

"Yes. It was a...glimpse into the Dark Side, unfortunately. It appears as though you were lost to it without even realizing it. Your friends have been through it before, too; I know that for a fact. But they at least had some prior knowledge, and probably some training on how to counteract it, as well. They would've learned years ago as students; you, however, haven't had the luxury of experiencing it before this in a relatively safe environment like they did.

"You have been under such monumental stress, Koril," she finished smoothly. "Frankly, I'm not surprised that this happened, given your raw strength in the Force and your inexperience with it."

Strangely, it was all beginning to make sense. It explained how little he felt in control of himself while so fueled with anger, but he couldn't ignore the fact that it wasn't entirely an isolated incident...

"It's happened before."

Now that _did_ surprise her.

"A few months ago, before Elena came back from Montar...I attacked my uncle for not telling me where my sister was. But just like this, I didn't know what I was doing...until the Natiyrs stopped me."

Slightly more wary of him, she nodded after a moment. "This definitely does need to be addressed, then." After drawing a slow breath, she looked at him more confidently. "You are not a poor leader or an unfit officer because of this, Koril. I can help you. It doesn't have to control you any longer."

Though her promise was intended to ease his anxiety, it didn't. "Elena's tried to help me before. It works for a while, but...it keeps coming back, and this time, without any warning."

Master Kanomin still seemed sympathetic. "Perhaps she didn't entirely understand what it all meant. Or...perhaps she did, and she didn't want to accept the truth about it. Like I said, your friends have experienced it, as well. They may not be ready to believe that you are susceptible to...the Dark Side. I, however, would rather see it for what it is, and do whatever is necessary to prevent it from happening again."

Releasing another shaky breath after a long moment, he nodded, finally deciding to trust in the Jedi Master's assistance for the sake of his conscience and his sanity.

* * *

As the Scepter Guard swiftly ushered her down a narrow hallway she had never seen before, Elena couldn't help but feel slightly strange about the whole thing. She was about to be witness to a private royal wedding, yet the reason for its secrecy kept her from being overtly excited. So many worries were on her mind already, but at least she was granted this opportunity to steal away an hour or two of respite. Wherever she had been taken, she was free to lose herself in such pure innocence and joy for just a little while...

They seemed to travel through a maze of dark, unadorned corridors for what she was sure was a half kilometer before finally reaching their destination, and even though the young king had his back to her as they approached a closed door, her voice had already caught in her throat.

"Elena," Jec greeted her happily as he turned to face her, nodding his thanks to his Scepter Guards. "Seyiri's just inside. I'm glad my guards were able to bring you here so quickly. That was fast."

Elena could only smile in ironic agreement, briefly lost in memories of the seven-year-old boy she had accidentally met so many years ago. Once a rambunctious, occasionally mischievous prince, now a competent, mature king stood before her, dressed in one of his many fine suits for his wedding. It reminded her of what his father Veon used to wear; simple but stately, unmistakably royal in its deep indigo and gold colors and its high quality fabric. Jec wore it so effortlessly, just as he wore his humble crown, the first she had seen of it since his coronation almost five years ago. Though she had tried to prepare herself against it, she stared hard at his jacket to prevent tears she could feel forming, reaching up to his shoulder to gently smooth away a nonexistent wrinkle.

"Look at you," she whispered with a growing smile, pride no doubt beaming through her expression. When she met his gaze, though, she couldn't withhold her tears any longer. She laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head as she quickly brushed away stray teardrops from her cheeks. "Look at _me_. You'd think I was giving away my own brother."

Jec laughed lightly, too. "It certainly feels that way, doesn't it?"

She nodded with another broad smile, studying his face for a moment when she realized... "You don't look nervous at all."

Still confident and happy as ever, Jec simply shook his head. "I'm not."

It wasn't fair how calm and collected he seemed to be in the face of such an important, life-changing event. But perhaps it wasn't as much of a change as she thought; he had been through more trying transitions before, most especially when he had become king of an entire planet at twelve...

"I know I don't tell you often enough, but I am _so_ proud of you, Jec," she breathed, emotional once more. "And I know that...if your father were here...he would be, too."

His expression fell the slightest bit as he no doubt felt the pain of his father's absence, as well. She hadn't intended to dampen the mood, though, so thinking quickly, she pulled a small wrapped gift from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here. I have something for you, for both of you."

"Elena, you didn't have to," he said with a humble smile, reluctantly taking it from her. She shook her head casually as he carefully unwrapped it.

"It's just a few words of wisdom, from one royal couple to another."

She nearly choked on her words, knowing how incomparable they were to each other. Jec and Seyiri had been Paneau Royals all their lives; even after four years of marriage to Koril, Elena still wasn't comfortable referring to herself as a Royal, as though she didn't deserve it.

Jec didn't seem to notice her struggle, inspecting the small, carved stone he held in his hand. Though it was inscribed with Paneau's ancient language, Jec read it without any pause or hindrance.

"'Trust, forgive, love,'" he quietly translated aloud, gently running his fingers over the smooth, delicate etchings and designs. "It's beautiful, Elena, thank you. Seyiri will love it."

Glad to hear his appreciation for such a small token, she smiled and took hold of one of his arms. "We shouldn't keep her waiting much longer. She might think we've abandoned her."

Jec laughed in agreement, and with his Scepter Guard ahead and behind, they all stepped into the room wordlessly. Still unsure if she was entirely prepared, she allowed herself to be led forward by Jec, keeping her eyes lowered to the floor just in front of her. Only when he stopped and the guards took up their posts nearby did she look up, and even more than she expected, Seyiri was a sight to behold. Jec couldn't have looked more enamored.

A pure white, silken dress so delicately tailored to her small frame seemed to glow in the room's soft lighting, but her face, illuminated by the genuine joy in her smile, still far outshone it. She was purely radiant, her long blond hair swept up into loosely pinned curls and adorned with tiny pale green flower blooms. They were distinctly fragrant, pleasant but markedly different from the purple panna flowers Elena had become so accustomed to over the years. Seyiri's vibrant emerald eyes sparkled with eagerness and excitement, the only thing betraying her otherwise reserved exterior. Elena remembered so little of her own wedding, too lost in the euphoria of the moment, and she wondered if Seyiri would experience the same.

"Your Highness", the minister addressed Jec formally, bowing to him as he took his place in front of the couple. Elena had only just stepped back, admiring them both for a moment, but before she had even realized it...the ceremony was nearly over.

"I, Verojec Banarecc, take you, Seyiri Ordeel, to be my wife. From this day forward, I will cherish you. I will look with joy down the path of our tomorrows, knowing that we will walk it together, side by side, hand in hand...and heart to heart."

With graceful ease, he slipped a ring over her slender finger, a ring that surprised Elena with its simplicity. A single, round diamond was bordered on either side of the band by both a rich green and a deep amber gem, yet none of the three were particularly large. It was the symbolism of the colors that meant the most, Elena gathered; the Banarecc Royal Family was represented by golden yellow, the Ordeels by emerald. Seyiri was only enchanted by it a few moments before she repeated the same vow, placing a similarly jeweled yet more masculine band on Jec's hand.

"I, Seyiri Ordeel, take you, Verojec Banarecc..."

Seyiri's words suddenly seemed to echo so strangely in the small room, perhaps because Elena was simultaneously hearing her own vows, said to Koril more than four years ago...

"...and heart to heart."

Jec could hardly contain the largest smile Elena had ever seen from him as he gently held both of Seyiri's hands in his. "I've loved you as long as I can remember, Seyiri," he continued softly, "even when we were kids. Nothing could make me happier than I am tonight...as I marry my best friend."

Taking in a quiet breath to settle her voice, Seyiri shed a single tear, her glistening eyes locked with Jec's. "These past few years, I've been asking myself...who am I to steal the heart of the king? Our journey together hasn't always been a happy one...but we've made it through these hardships, with each other's support, and it can only get better from here. I love you so much, Jec. I've always been yours."

The minister, satisfied with their exchange of vows, bowed again to them both, bringing attention back to himself. "You are now, in the eyes of official Paneau law and records, husband and wife." Addressing Seyiri specifically, he smiled kindly again. "You may continue operating as Seyiri Ordeel, but whenever you are ready, you may assume your proper title: Her Royal Highness, Seyiri Banarecc...Queen of Paneau." Bowing once more, but more deeply, he looked to Jec with a cordial gesture. "You may kiss your queen."

Wasting little time, Jec swept Seyiri up into a sweet, gentle kiss, bringing the secret ceremony to a blissful close. As quickly as it had begun, though, it was dissolved, and as Elena was being taken back home separately from the others, her spirits quickly fell. Witnessing such a seemingly perfect union only forced her to realize how imperfect hers was, and how much of a broken, strained relationship she was returning to that night.


	19. Chapter 19

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_  
_5.7 APC_

Weeks that had been simultaneously fast and painfully slow seemed impossible, but Rech couldn't have explained his stay at the med center any differently. Time came to a standstill every waking moment he spent at Mand's side, but when he left to sleep or eat, though only gone for an hour or two at most, he returned to find her belly just slightly larger, as if the twins had grown only when he wasn't present. It was a silly notion, he knew, but he couldn't shake the thought from his mind.

Despite the near disastrous altercation with Koril almost two months ago, Mand and the twin girls had somehow remained...stable. Mand's condition never seemed to improve, though, concerning Rech daily, but neither had it crashed as it had that day. Rech had taken Master Kanomin's advice and had allowed himself more time to recover between healing shifts, but he still worried constantly. He knew the only way he could completely relax was if Mand was able to leave the hibernation trance entirely and continue the pregnancy normally without any further aid. The more days that went by with no noticeable improvement only confirmed to Rech that the next few precious months would be just as tenuous and nerve-wracking as the last.

Only affording himself a brief break mid-morning, he stood in front of a refresher sink, staring blankly at his own weary features in the mirror. He had already changed into a new set of clothes for the day, but they were little removed from the uniform he would be wearing while on duty in the surgical wing. After a kidnapping attempt on the children, he had kept his lightsaber in his pocket, easily accessible but hidden, in the event that their attacker returned in search of them again. Though the children were safely sequestered at the Rys'tihn Retreat, that thought, too, weighed heavily on him every day. So tired and worn, he almost couldn't recognize the man gazing back at him, but he didn't much care. He'd recover later when he didn't have the lives of his wife and daughters hanging in the balance...

Heaving a stressed, worry-laden sigh, he scooped cold water into his hands and buried his face in it, vainly hoping it would rid his eyes of their fatigue and redness. He was alone, thankfully, though he might not have cared either way, as welcome as the coolness was on his tired features. He enjoyed it a moment longer before drying off, feeling slightly more awake than he had been just minutes earlier. Master Kanomin was likely to notice the difference, and though she would probably comment that he still needed more rest, he had already been away from Mand longer than he had intended.

The walk down the hall back to her room seemed much longer than he remembered, even despite his faster pace to counter it. A handful of med center nurses, most of whom he knew and had worked with in the past, greeted him politely as they passed him, but he could only respond with a curt nod. Even with his uncharacteristically disheveled appearance that made him self-conscious, they remained sympathetic and compassionate; they seemed to be aware of his situation, as some offered gentle words of encouragement. Their kindness was only briefly uplifting, for as soon as he returned to Mand's room, his heart wrenched into a searing knot once more as he stepped inside.

To ease the strain on her back as she lay in bed with an enlarging womb, the attending nurses had delicately turned Mand onto her side, apparently while Rech was away. He instantly regretted leaving, wishing he could have been there to tend to his wife while they moved her. Had she woken up in discomfort and noticed that he wasn't there beside her? Would she have become upset at his absence? Only focused on her, he returned to his seat next to her, gently brushing her hair back from her gaunt but placid face. Her arms were bent at her elbows, placing her hands just in front of her nose as if she were merely sleeping. Her trance was far deeper and more complex than sleep, but still he reached out in the Force to speak softly into her mind.

_I'm here... Let me know you're okay._

He watched her vigilantly for any sign of a response, but save for her light, shallow breathing, she remained motionless. Afraid that she was in poorer shape than he had left her in, he tenderly grasped her hands in his, preparing to begin an intense healing session...when the monitor audibly announcing her heart beat fluttered a brief moment before returning to its normal slow rhythm. With relief, he released a breath he had been holding as a gentle laugh, allowing his fears to ease. As Master Kanomin had said some weeks ago, Mand would let him know if something was wrong.

Realizing that he hadn't noticed anyone else in the room since he had returned, not even Master Kanomin who should have been opposite him at Mand's side, he carefully placed Mand's hands down on the bed and sat back in his chair as he looked around behind him. Standing next to Master Kanomin near the room's entrance was someone he had not expected to see...someone he hadn't seen in years...

"_Yhren_."

His younger sister was opposite in appearance from him in nearly every way. Her long, golden blond hair, gracefully draped across her shoulders, couldn't have been straighter or finer, contrasting sharply with his thick, wavy rich brown locks. Her eyes, too, green with just the slightest tinge of brown, had always been much deeper and more expressive than his dark, monochromatic brown, winning her countless arguments and often liberating her from blame when they were much younger.

As she silently remained in place across the room from him, the sadness and concern in her eyes was hard to ignore, but he still hadn't even processed his own shock at her presence.

"What are you doing here?" he finally managed to ask, somewhat breathless with surprise. A swift shift in Master Kanomin's expression prompted him to quickly add another question before she rebuked him. "I thought you were still in school?"

Yhren shook her head coolly, but she, too, seemed to be processing something, as distant and weak as her voice sounded. "I have a...a break for a few months."

Thankfully Master Kanomin seemed satisfied with the change in his attitude, but anticipating a more private conversation between siblings, she silently excused herself, stepping outside as she gave Yhren's shoulder a gentle, supportive squeeze. They could only have talked for a few minutes at most, yet they seemed to be close already. Or was it simply sympathy Master Kanomin was conveying?

"Master Kanomin told me everything," Yhren continued timidly, leaving Rech's gaze only briefly to look over at her sister-in-law. He released a weary breath, somewhat relieved that he didn't have to go through the exhausting explanation himself, but his relief was short lived. "Everything except," she said with a suddenly sharper bite, "...why you never told any of us."

Reluctant to meet her gaze, Rech slowly looked up and watched a dozen emotions roll across her face at once, each more intense than the last. She finally let out a short breath of exasperation, seemingly deciding how to continue as he remained silent and offered no response.

"I mean, I guess I could understand not getting a message to me, since we don't talk much lately anyway, but Rech...Mom has _no_ idea." She paused, her eyes earnestly searching his, pleading. "You _have_ to tell her."

"No," Rech answered immediately, looking away from her so he wouldn't have to suffer her reaction. When nothing came, he shook his head decisively. "No. If I told her, she'd drop everything and leave immediately, getting here as quickly as she could. But there's nothing she can do to help, there's nothing _any_ of us can do, more than what we've done already. She'd be useless, just sitting here worrying, and I don't want to put that burden on her. No," he repeated quietly, "...there's nothing she can do."

Though he was again afraid to, he stole a glance up at his sister and was surprised to see at least a small glimmer of sympathy in her eyes, regardless of its short duration. Yhren had always been a skilled debate opponent, calm and level-headed even in tense, emotional situations...

"She could take care of you," she offered gently after a moment, "since it doesn't look like you are."

Embarrassed by his poor appearance that even she had noticed, he stood from his seat and stepped over to the room's window, rubbing his face as he kept his back to her. Unwilling to answer her, he braced his palms on the sill and hunched over, absentmindedly looking out into the cityscape surrounding the medical center as he thought. His mother didn't need to be taking care of him, nor did anyone else as long as his focus was on Mand and the twins. Master Kanomin had on several occasions come close to looking after him as a mother would, often demanding that he rest, but that was as much as he would tolerate.

"Rech," Yhren spoke up softly after a lengthy silence, "...we've been through this before." The trepidation in her voice was the most telling; he knew exactly what she was remembering. He had been in a similar state while searching for Mand after she had been kidnapped in her teens: ragged, exhausted, and desperate, all of which he knew she could see in him once more, and it obviously worried her.

"Why do you have to be so damn _proud_?" she continued with new found fervor. "We're family. We're supposed to drop everything if we have to, without a second thought. So some of us aren't trained like you are, and maybe we can't help her like you can. But we can still just..._be_ here, to support you, to bring you food or comforts, anything you need. You don't have to do this entirely on your own."

But he felt like he did, if only to spare his family the same turmoil he had to endure...

"This is Mand's fifth pregnancy," he explained quietly, hardly finding the strength to speak. "The first was Cordira, and then a year and a half later...her first miscarriage. Then another...and another..." He swallowed hard to stay his trembling, but it did little good, if any. "_I_ didn't even know about this one, these twins...until she began having problems. She didn't tell me because...she wanted to protect me, in case she lost them, too.

"So I know exactly how you feel, finding out after being kept in the dark. I wanted to protect you, too, you and Mom and Dad...but especially Mom. She took them all pretty hard each time, so I decided that when I had good news to share, I would. But so far...there hasn't been any."

Her grip on his arm was so light and delicate, he could have easily dismissed it as an errant breeze in the room. Her voice was just as soft.

"Master Kanomin said that Mand's condition has been steady, and that the twins are developing well. That's not bad news."

"She hasn't improved."

"But she hasn't crashed, either, since..."

"Since Koril tried to kill her?"

He had no defense against the rage and disgust that suddenly came back and burned anew in his mind as he thought about that day for the first time in weeks. He had tried to forget it, to ignore how hurt and betrayed he felt so he could remain focused on Mand. It had been easy to do as neither Koril nor Elena had returned to visit since, either too busy or too afraid. Though Yhren had been intent on consoling him, she had reopened a wound that still pierced him to his core, and he knew his anger had to be freely radiating from him. Mand would notice.

"I don't have to be trained to feel how angry you are," Yhren said carefully as she stepped back from him, releasing her hold on his arm. "Master Kanomin told me about what happened, too. Rech, he's your friend - "

His shoulders tensed as he remained hunched over at the window. "He knew what he was doing; he ordered his guards to keep me from going into the room. He is _not_ a friend, not anymore."

"You won't even give him the benefit of the doubt?" she asked, her voice small and scared. "What if his mind was...clouded, warped by some outside force, and it wasn't really him - "

"You didn't see the look in his eyes."

A long, anxious silence passed before she took in and released a shaky breath. "No, I didn't. But you can't see the look in yours."

What did she mean? She hadn't seen his face since he had stepped up to the window earlier in their discussion. He turned slightly, looking over his shoulder at her with a dark look...but it began to fade when he saw the disappointment in her expression. Unable to stand it for very long, he returned to the window, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

"When you have a family, when you have someone you'd die to protect...maybe then you'll understand."

His words were harsh, he knew, but she didn't seem to be grasping just how terrible Koril's betrayal was. Maybe Master Kanomin had watered it down so it hadn't sounded as devastating to her, but Rech knew. He had witnessed it all himself.

"My brother...my big brother I grew up with...always had the kindest, most generous heart. Let me know when you find him again."

Though her disappointment in him made him that much more frustrated, he calmed himself for her sake, hoping to at least placate her for the time being. "Yhren..." But as he turned around to face her, she had already left.

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

Still on high alert as the Royal Security Forces' two-month search hadn't yet tracked down their Kel Dor intruder, Elena met an unscheduled shuttle at the Retreat's hangar with caution. Her senses on edge, she kept her hands clasped tightly in front of her; though her muscles were tense and poised for action, she kept her movements smooth. Garran followed closely on her heels with innocent curiosity, and as observant as he was, he would surely pick up on her anxiety if she wasn't careful.

Thankfully, though, her worry was needless, and she found herself smiling as she hadn't in some time. Lieutenant Saross Wip stepped down the lowered rear ramp of his shuttle he had just landed, dressed in his formal uniform that suddenly seemed ill-fitting. It was the first time she had seen Swip in months; he had taken personal leave to be with his family following the death of one of his sisters, and his grief looked to have manifested as noticeable weight loss. Elena knew her smile had faltered somewhat as she approached him and looked him over, but he still bowed politely with a tired smile.

"M'lady," he greeted her softly as she pulled him out of his bow into a tight embrace.

"Swip... I didn't know you had returned to duty."

Stepping back from her, his shoulders sagged slightly. "I haven't yet, actually. I have to get Commander Jax's approval first, and he's...busy." Apparently eager to change the subject, he turned to the side, looking back into the shuttle's hold. "I brought you a visitor."

Following his line of sight, she hardly contained an excited gasp as Yhren Natiyr joined them, and she quickly hugged her old friend, too.

"Yhren! What a surprise to see you!"

Yhren returned the hug and smiled, too, albeit reservedly. "Yes, there are a lot of surprises going around..."

The sadness in her tone was all Elena needed to hear to infer her meaning. Instantly her expression fell, almost rendering her speechless. "Oh... I...I'm so sorry... I didn't..."

But Yhren shrugged and shook her head, dismissing her regret for Rech and Mand's withheld news. "It's alright. Master Kanomin filled me in, and...well, I should just be used to it by now." She broadened her smile, returning to her usual pleasant demeanor. "I came to see Cordira, if I could. It's been so long, she might not remember me, but...I wanted to see how she's doing."

Speaking up for the first time, Garran gently tugged at Elena's arm from behind her. "I'll take her up there, Elena."

Elena was quick to nod, appreciating Garran's enthusiasm. He was becoming more comfortable around them all recently, opening up in his new 'home'. "Yhren, this is Garran Bolc. He's staying here with us for a while. Garran, Yhren Natiyr. She's Rech's younger sister. We've been friends for a long time."

Yhren smiled politely. "Nice to meet you, Garran." An even more genuine smile spread across her face as she turned to Swip, her cheeks flushing the slightest bit. "Thank you, Lieutenant, for the lift. I appreciate it."

Somewhat oblivious, Swip nodded blankly. "Anytime, Miss Natiyr."

As Yhren began to leave with Garran, Elena hugged her again, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. "We'll catch up soon." As soon as Garran and Yhren had disappeared into the Retreat, she turned to Swip, and she wasn't surprised to find a distant, unfocused expression on his face. She watched him for a moment before she spoke, unsure if he would say something first. "How have you been, Swip?"

She knew it was an open question that he could answer with as much or as little as he was comfortable, but she hoped that since they were now alone in the hangar, he would confide in her what he might not share with others. They had become close friends over a previous painful death, and he had to know how sympathetic she would be to his suffering...

Finally gathering the strength to speak, he nodded a bit, his words as weak as he looked. "Alright. It's been...rough. My youngest brothers took it the hardest. Besides me, Cotaal was the only one they listened to. Not that Miina didn't care, but...Cotaal knew just the right thing to say to get through to them. Now they're just...lost."

Feeling his anguish as an icy pang in her own heart, she gently gripped his arm for support. "It can't be easy to be strong for all of them by yourself," she soothed quietly. "Who's helping you?"

"I was hoping it'd be my squadmates," he answered with a halfhearted shrug, "but they've been out on patrols for weeks. That's actually why I'm here. Major Jax should be able to reach my commander so I can try to get into the rotation."

Elena furrowed her brows. "Major Jax usually starts the day at the Manor, then the Security Center, then here later in the afternoon. He won't be here for a few more hours."

Swip looked just as confused. "I just talked to Major Tidesetter at the Manor, and she said he hadn't checked in there or the Security Center this morning. They assumed he was here."

A terrible, sinking fear took hold of her, turning her stomach into knots. Something wasn't right. "That's not like him. He would've told _someone_ if his schedule had changed..." Fighting the urge to panic, she swallowed hard to steady her voice. "Do you know where he lives?"

"Yes, m'lady."

She wasted little time, climbing up into the shuttle behind them with urgency. "Let's go, now."


	20. Chapter 20

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon  
Jax Residence  
5.7 APC_

The scene in front of the modest, two-story home was nothing short of chaotic as Elena and Swip landed their shuttle nearby. Dalon Security officers and Royal Guards alike swarmed about the grounds, and Elena struggled to determine just who was in charge as she stepped into the fray. Finally spotting a familiar face amongst the crowd, Elena made her way toward her quickly, passing a number of guards who swiftly bowed to her as Swip struggled to keep up.

"Feylora," Elena addressed the Dalon Security Chief informally to earn her attention as quickly as possible, which it did.

"M'lady," Chief Noxymer returned cordially, pausing briefly to give one more order to officers standing in front of her. Once they left, she shifted her focus completely to Elena. "Transport just took off. It's taking Major Jax to the medical center."

"Why! What happened?"

Suddenly hesitant to explain, Noxymer glanced between Elena and Swip before she released a short breath and gestured toward the home. "You should see inside for yourself."

Desperate to know more but unable to formulate any further questions, she followed Noxymer closely into the home's front foyer...where a substantial pool of blood had collected in the center of the floor, disturbed with boot prints and drag marks. The sight froze her breath in her chest, and she had already begun to expect the worst before Noxymer spoke up to explain.

"A nearby security patrol was sent here when Tavyna Jax didn't arrive at school this morning, and no one had been able to get in contact with Major Jax or his wife. None of the exterior doors on the property were secured, but they weren't forcibly opened, either. They found Major Jax here," she needlessly indicated the blood on the floor, "where it looks like he had been hit from behind. His head injury was...severe, and he had no defensive wounds, so it's probable that he never even saw his attacker."

The scene she imagined playing out in the major's own home earlier that morning nearly made her sick to her stomach. But as much as she cared for Jax, she worried more for his family, which Noxymer had yet to mention. Her voice shook noticeably as she spoke despite her efforts to subdue it. "And Tavyna?"

"Completely unharmed," Noxymer was quick to respond with relief. "Her room is just over there, but she said she didn't hear anything last night. The door to her room was the only one locked in the whole house. It...may have been the reason she was spared."

"Where is she now?"

"On her way to the medical center with her uncle, Major Jax's brother Eger. We made sure she never saw her father so...critical."

She was relieved as well, but she sensed there was still something more that Noxymer hadn't reported... "And Milowi?"

Reluctant to answer directly once more, Noxymer eventually pointed upstairs. "The bedroom."

Dalon Security Investigators were already swarming about the home in well-rehearsed choreography, collecting evidence and cataloging the clues, but Elena still felt less than useless. She followed Noxymer numbly up the stairs to the second floor, steeling herself for an even more disturbing scene than the one she was leaving. If the transport had already left, taking Major Jax to get the treatment he needed so urgently...did that mean Milowi was already dead?

Hardly able to bear the crushing weight of dread, Elena only stepped into the main bedroom once she felt Swip's presence just behind her. Though similarly full of investigators like the rest of the home, it was very plainly evident why Noxymer had insisted on showing her instead of merely describing the state of the room. The aftermath of a lengthy, intense hand-to-hand scuffle was hard to miss; not a single piece of furniture was in its proper place, having been tossed aside or turned over, even broken. Trinkets and other personal items, probably once carefully arranged for display on a dresser or on shelves hanging on the wall, were violently strewn about the floor, and not even holos had survived the fight. No one item had been left untouched, but as Elena continued to study the room, she began to realize...

"She's not here."

Chief Noxymer shook her head sadly. "We've searched the entire grounds, every room twice already. Milowi Jax is gone."

Without warning, an errant thought came to her, and she desperately hoped it hadn't occurred to anyone else. "This was _not_ a domestic incident..."

Noxymer was quick to shake her head. "I don't think so, either, m'lady. But I would feel better hunting for a suspect if we could explain why their home's security was completely disabled. None of the cameras were working when we think the attack took place, sometime early this morning, so we have almost nothing to go on."

As hopeless as it looked with an unknown motive, an unknown assailant, and an unknown outcome, Elena at least took solace in the fact that Tavyna hadn't been harmed. The poor girl had been through enough trauma already, one of the few in her class who had survived the attack on the Dalon Provincial Academy thanks to her father's quick thinking. But now that she was in danger of losing both of her parents, how much more could the quiet two-year-old endure?

Taking another focused, more painstaking look around the room, she quickly noticed that despite the damage to just about every object in sight, she saw no obvious traces of blood anywhere. So the fight had been fierce, but neither Milowi nor her attacker had been severely wounded, giving Elena hope that Milowi may still be alive. Had she been the intended target? What did Milowi have that someone wanted?

A pair of Dalon Security officers sprinting into the room broke through the tense silence, bringing Elena's attention back up to Chief Noxymer as they addressed her urgently.

"Chief, a security camera on the home next door recorded the intruder."

Elena held her breath as she stood beside Noxymer, watching the recording from a data pad the officers had brought in. The area was poorly lit in the dark, early morning hours, but she could just make out the shadowed silhouette of the suspect hunched over a control panel on the rear side of the Jax home. He had a few tools in his hands, and without much time or effort, the control panel went dark. No alarms sounded as the back door opened for him at his command, and just as he stepped into the house, he took one last look into the alley behind him, revealing his face.

Elena felt her stomach turn to ice. "_The Kel Dor_."

The same mysterious assailant who had tried to take the children from Mand's room at the medical center two months ago had returned and escalated his tactics, opting to attack a high-ranking Royal Guard and his family instead. He had made such quick work of the home's security, disabling it without anyone's knowledge, that Elena was quickly coming to the conclusion that this Kel Dor was definitely a professional mercenary, hired for a specific purpose...but what was it?

Major Jax was practically the High Commander's right hand man, privy to nearly all operations of the Paneau Royal Forces on the ground, in the air, and around the sector. But the Kel Dor had disappeared with Milowi, not the major. Was he going to use Milowi against her husband, bargaining her life for information or access to the Rys'tihn children? Or, Elena thought with sudden fear, did he actually know just how valuable of an intelligence agent Milowi had once been? A former covert agent for the Rys'tihn Ghost Heirs would still know so many sensitive details of the Rys'tihn Manor and the Rys'tihn Retreat; the layout, security, secret tunnels...

Bringing Elena back into the room, Chief Noxymer returned the data pad to the officers who had brought it to her. "Get a message out to all districts to be on the lookout for this Kel Dor again. He can't slip past our checkpoints this time." They both left as quickly as they had entered, and Noxymer looked to Elena once more. "If he tries to leave Paneau, m'lady, we'll know. The Royal Navy has maintained tight operations, checking all inbound and outbound transports thoroughly, ever since that incident at the medical center a few months ago. Now that we _know_ he's still here on Paneau, he can't escape. We'll _find_ him, m'lady, and we'll find Milowi."

Though Noxymer's assurances did little to calm her racing heart, she nodded, dismissing the Security Chief to return to her duties coordinating the investigators on the scene. Swip was quick to step up to Elena's side once Noxymer left, seeming to anticipate being needed despite still being in shock over everything himself. She knew he had noticed the change in her expression, though it had been subtle, and thankfully she didn't have to explain herself. She wasn't sure she'd have to strength to, anyway.

"I need to get back to the Retreat."

Swip nodded understandingly. "I'll take you."

* * *

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_

After quickly checking in on the children who were all asleep for an afternoon nap, Elena made her way through the Retreat's tunnels alone, determined to find the Rys'tihn Ghost Heir who hadn't been seen in months. Deilia, too, had disappeared before during times of severe unrest, presumably to settle things herself, but that still left Cade on Paneau to continue monitoring the situation at home. With Deilia in exile, though, Cade's continued absence was unsettling, to say the least, and if he couldn't be contacted...Elena was prepared to begin the hunt for Milowi Jax herself.

The dark, damp cave Cade called home was unbearably silent as Elena raced inside from the tunnel that connected it to the Retreat hundreds of kilometers away. She had expected to find it full of other covert agents preparing to search for one of their own under Cade's direction, but the longer she listened, the more she began to fear that the entire underground complex was empty.

"Cade!" she called for him, unable to filter the desperation from her voice. She heard it reverberating through the rocky chambers, but nothing new came back to her. Swiftly moving room to room, she continued asking for him, begging for a response, yet she still only met silence. Her mind raced wildly, thinking through everything she knew of the Ghost Heirs' base of operations. If he wasn't able to hear her within the cavern, was he taking refuge in the Lexcen Lake, the complex's natural protective barrier? She scrambled back to the lake's entrance, fumbling through the equipment for a quick diving expedition, but finally, another voice stopped her.

"Elena?"

She whirled around to face him, hardly pausing long enough to notice the covert agent standing beside him. "Cade! Milowi Jax is missing. The Kel Dor attacked them at their home this morning and took her."

Though she wasn't expecting much of a reaction from the stoic Heir anyway, he still gave no indication of any response, as if she had just told him that water was wet or space was cold. It wasn't news to him. "...you already knew?"

Again, he remained silent without any acknowledgment, seeming to search for something safe to say to calm her. "Your children are safe."

Briefly taken aback by his statement, she furrowed her brows, putting more strength in her voice. "I know, but we have to help Milowi, we have to find her."

He finally reacted, though it wasn't what she wanted to see or hear at all. His eyes saddened with regret as he glanced at the covert agent at his side. "We can't, Elena."

"What? What do you mean, you can't? You can't, or you won't?"

Anticipating a difficult discussion, Cade nodded to dismiss his agent, sending him away to the tunnel Elena had arrived in. She watched him leave wordlessly, but she returned to Cade with a harsher, more demanding expression; she wasn't going anywhere without answers.

Cade released a slow breath, suddenly unable to meet Elena's gaze as he carefully explained. "Milowi was Deilia's agent. She controlled everything Milowi did, from her travels, to her missions, to her every day duties. Our agents operate exclusively under only one Heir, and every agent is given a specific signal they're to use in an emergency, but...Deilia was the only one who knew Milowi's. Even if Milowi could get her signal out, wherever she is...I wouldn't know what to be looking for."

Elena blinked. "So that's it? You're not even going to try?" Again, no answer. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this is the same Kel Dor who tried to take the children. It can't be a coincidence that he has abducted someone with extensive knowledge of my family _and_ our home."

Finally understanding her concern, Cade's expression lightened, and he answered with certainty that was slightly off-putting. "Milowi won't tell him anything."

"How can you be so sure?"

A strange, distant look in his eyes was hard to miss as he responded. "Because I know how she was trained." Focusing on Elena once more, he continued. "He can't break her."

Though she assumed Cade was attempting to reassure her, he had only deepened her anxiety. She couldn't bear the thought of Milowi being interrogated or even tortured to give up information about them... "What does he want with us, Cade? Why go after the children? They're so young..."

"Like I said, _your_ children are safe."

Seemingly surprised by the inflection in his own voice, Cade looked away from her again, saying nothing more. Elena was only confused by his reaction, unsure why he would regret what he said. When the Kel Dor had first attacked at the medical center, Ri had defended her children in both hers and Koril's absence...

But the reason she hadn't been there herself was because she had remained with Dirani as she recovered from her wounds at the Academy disaster earlier that day. Dirani's room was three floors away from Mand's, and after Rech had left the room to confront Koril in the hallway, Derek and Cordira were the only ones still there.

"_My_ children?" she repeated his emphasis, trying to earn back his attention though she could hardly hear herself. "My children are safe, but...Cordira isn't? Is _she_ the one he wants?"

Retreating even more, Cade began to leave without a word, but Elena persisted, keeping up just behind him as he moved down the hallway. "Cade, if she's the target, if she's in danger, we need to know!" Still not getting an answer, she decided to make the play she had been withholding for years, knowing it would force Cade's hand.

"I know this doesn't have anything to do with the Prophecy!"

Frozen mid-step, Cade whirled around to face her with an intense expression. He seemed to study her for a moment, as though he were unsure if she had merely guessed or if she actually knew the remaining Prophecies. She held her ground, reciprocating his glare before he finally spoke.

"You can't know that. You're not supposed to."

His stubbornness easily rivaled hers, she knew, but with all the worry and stress this one discussion had brought up, she had to call on the Force to control her rising frustration. "The day Koril and I first met you here...you sent us to the Retreat with Deilia so she could play us a message from Koril's father. She took us to a records room, but the message wasn't there. When she left to go find it, we found...a data pad that listed the last Prophecies. Koril read it, and we've known about them all since then."

She could still hear Koril's voice clearly in her mind as he read the vague, yet still strangely specific Prophecies aloud more than five years ago. _Only with the death of a Jedi friend does the fallen king return to save his sovereign...Jec will become Paneau's greatest king, Rys'tihns will descend from Black Ice, alien, soulless evil will end the longest era of peace... _Visions from an ancient Jedi ancestor of the Rys'tihns had been recorded as a monstrous, ornate mosaic in one of the underwater caverns hidden within the Lexcen Lake. Rys'tihn Ghost Heirs had guarded it for centuries, and only Ghost Heirs were to know of its predictions. Within those that hadn't been realized yet, Rys'tihn heirs were only mentioned for their connection to "black ice", whatever that meant, and none made any note of ill will from some errant mercenary. Still, it left her unsatisfied.

"The Prophecy may not have considered Cordira as part of the family, but I do. She's practically a sister to Derek and Dirani, and I know Rech and Mand have cared for my children in the past just as they do for her. They may not be Rys'tihns in name, but please...Cordira deserves your protection, too, especially now while her parents are...preoccupied."

Obviously conflicted, Cade drew in a long breath as he clenched his jaw, unsettled by the choice he was having to make but also moved with compassion for the girl. Did she have to plead more, make an even stronger case for his assistance? She could even bring up the well-being of Cade's son Garran if she had to...

"You were right to bring the children to the Retreat," he finally conceded, giving her an answer of sorts. "They will all be safe there."

"Even Cordira?"

His assertive nod surprised her. "Especially Cordira."

Greatly relieved, Elena closed her eyes briefly to calm herself even more. "Thank you."

Cade nodded again and began to leave, but he stopped himself before he got far. "Elena...my agents and even some of the other Ghost Heirs are actively looking for Milowi. She's still here on Paneau, we're just...not sure where yet." He opened his mouth once more to continue, as if he were about to assure her that Milowi would be found...but unable to, he remained silent as he disappeared into a connecting tunnel, leaving Elena alone in the complex again.


	21. Chapter 21

The first thing Milowi noticed was the smell. She smelled...dust, and grime, and the biting, acrid stench of rusted, rotting durasteel. She could almost taste how dirty her surroundings were, once she got past the lingering bitterness of her own blood in her mouth. Pain was only just beginning to register, but she pushed past it, forcing her eyes to open...

Despite her throbbing, disorienting headache from an elbow she had taken to the temple, she could tell she was laying on her right side on the floor, but there was no discernible light source anywhere to illuminate the room. She knew her eyes were open, but with no reference point and no other information available about the area around her, she had to be methodical and careful about how she moved. Her training had already kicked in, keeping her calm and collected when others might have panicked.

Sore from her violent encounter with a hooded assailant in her own bedroom, her muscles protested and burned fiercely as she carefully extended her foot, delicately tapping the floor with her toes to find a wall or outline a boundary of some kind. She felt and heard nothing but solid durasteel under her legs, so she began to raise an arm, but was surprised by how abnormally heavy it seemed. Something thick and metallic was tightly clasped around both of her wrists, forcing her to strain to lift either of them. She felt around them to determine exactly what they were, but other than discovering that they weren't attached to each other, as binders would be, she found no other distinguishing characteristics. Though a little unsure why she would be held with such odd devices on her, she pressed on.

Slowly pushing herself up off the hard, cold floor, she struggled to reach one hand above her head, making sure there wasn't a low ceiling over her. Once she could, she stood with painstaking precision, keeping her muscles tense and primed for reflexive moves if the need arose. With her arms tucked at her side, she stood motionless in place, listening intently for anything new. No alarms sounded, and she heard no other sounds, save for her own silenced breathing. Wherever she was, she was isolated, but there had to be a way in and a way out. Though still blind in her cell, she needed to find the door.

A quick tap of her bare heel on the durasteel floor sent a short, crisp echo around the room, but no one direction sent the sound back to her faster than the others. She was either perfectly centered between four presumed walls, or the room was incredibly well insulated. She took small, shuffling steps forward, and eventually reaching a wall in front of her with no obstacles in her way, she rested her hands on it, getting a feel for its texture and composition. Though the wall, too, was cold and unforgiving durasteel like the floor, a strange grime coated it almost uniformly. It reminded her of the decaying underlevels of Coruscant - centuries of neglect and pollution eroded the framework to a structurally-deficient state. If she was locked in a similarly degraded building, she could find weak points in the walls and exploit them to escape.

Still, she continued moving along the wall, seeking a door. She had noticed that the cuffs on her wrists were putting out a subtle buzz, the distinct hum of electricity. If she could find the door's control panel, even though it was likely locked from the outside, she could tap into the door's wiring and short out the cuffs to get them off, freeing her to activate the comm link and distress signal in her bracelet...

Sudden intense, bright white light flooded the room and instantly froze her in place as her eyes closed protectively. Unsure of the light source, she turned around to face the interior of the room though her eyes remained useless, tightly shut and watering from the rapid, painful change. She readied herself for a fight, her pulse racing form the rush of adrenalin.

...but nothing came. No further sound, no footsteps, no door opening, just...light. She determinedly forced her eyes open despite their reluctance; she _had_ to see.

Though her vision remained blurry and overexposed, she could still tell she had been right about the walls' decay. Instead of the usual polished luster of unadorned durasteel, a dull rust coated every surface, even the door, which she finally spotted opposite her. She waited even more, certain that her captor would make his appearance soon...

But as she stood in place in front of the wall, a new humming sound emerged, and she felt her arms inexplicably raising up, leaving her completely powerless to fight it. The cuffs at her wrists were being pulled upwards by an invisible force, and they lifted her painfully off her feet, dangling her in the air as the familiar blue glow of a containment field surrounded her. Though she knew it was useless, she tugged with all her weight to wrench her wrists free, but the cuffs were magnetically locked in place.

"You probably shouldn't struggle so hard," came a gruff, amplified voice from across the room. "You certainly proved you're strong, but...you're not _that_ strong."

Finally meeting her captor, Milowi somehow managed to maintain a neutral expression. She had seen the security recordings from the Dalon Medical Center where a Kel Dor had attempted to kidnap the Rys'tihn and Natiyr children, and it appeared that she had been taken by the same man instead. Fighting him in the darkness of her bedroom while he kept a hood over his head, she hadn't been sure of his identity in that instant, but she had suspected it. Now she knew, and it tied her stomach into knots.

The Kel Dor's antiox breath mask covered his eyes, nose, and mouth, leaving her with nothing but his voice to read to analyze his intentions. He stepped closer to her, but he stopped just short of what she assumed to be her kicking range; with her legs free from confinement, she could swing her feet up for a quick strike, but he appeared to have considered it, as well. His movements were slow but confident as he crossed his arms over his chest, seeming to look her over.

"Milowi Jax," he continued coolly. "You know, as the wife of a high-ranking, well-decorated military officer, I hadn't expected you to put up such an impressive fight. I have to admit, you very nearly had me beat."

The attack had happened so suddenly, it had left her no time to process much of anything. She had relied solely on reflexes and agility to survive as long as she did, but she still had been overpowered and knocked out by a well-placed blow to the head. Had she not feared for her husband and her daughter's lives, she would have simply escaped the lumbering brute's reach, as she was much faster than he was, but in trying to fell him instead, she had failed. Her heart raced with the thought that her family might have been harmed, too, though she outwardly showed him no trace of anxiety.

"I can handle myself."

The Kel Dor nodded casually in agreement. "And that got me thinking. Why would you have such skills? You've no rank, no title, no ties to the Royal Forces here except for your marriage... What _is_ it that you've been trained to guard?"

It must have been his calm curiosity that set off warning alarms in her mind. He either knew far more than he was letting on, or he was simply not an average mercenary. His intelligence had obviously been severely underestimated by the other covert agents she had talked to; they had assumed him gone after his failure at the med center.

With her silence, he went on, undaunted. "I'll confess: your husband _was_ originally my target. I knew for sure that he would have the intel I needed, since it's his job to know. But you...you intrigued me. You quickly made it clear that you were far more valuable than he was, so I took the chance.

"Now, I suppose that makes me look impulsive," he continued plainly. "But I am also very, very patient. I get paid the same whether I get the job done today, tomorrow, or a year from now. So at this point, everything depends on you. That means you have two options: one, you tell me what I want to know right now, or two, you still tell me what I want to know, but with some...persuasion, which will last as long as you do."

Clasped in one of his four-clawed hands was a small remote she hadn't seen earlier. She already knew what it would do, but she took in a deep breath to steel her resolve. Maintaining her silence, she held a steady, unrelenting gaze on him, readying herself for the torture he was about to unleash.

With the smallest of movements, he pressed one of the buttons between his fingers, sending white-hot electrical current through her entire body. Her already damaged muscles seized and shook intensely as the current ravaged her, but she withheld a scream, determined to not give him the satisfaction. Just as she felt muscle fibers begining to shear from the extreme tension, the current relented, leaving her even weaker and gasping for air. Her lungs hardly worked, traumatized by the electricity, but she forced air in and out. She could endure the pain, but she was already beginning to fear that her body would give out before her willpower would.

Suddenly in her face, the Kel Dor spoke quietly but with the most malice she had heard from him yet. "You _will_ tell me eventually. You know what information I want. Your time is limited, not mine."

He turned around and began to leave, but not before he pressed the remote's button a second time.

* * *

Nearing the end of a two-day journey through space, Koril returned to the _Celestia_'s cockpit and sat at its controls, ready to bring the ship out of hyperspace. His only companion for the trip, Ri Banarecc, had remained quietly in the seat beside him, but he could tell she had been wary of him the entire time. Feeling her gaze lingering on him as the tense silence continued, he maintained his gaze out the viewport as he addressed her curtly.

"Are you expecting me to snap?"

He regretted his words the instant they left his mouth, and expectedly, Ri's response was delayed.

"No."

The honesty and slight fear in her voice made him feel that much more guilty. He closed his eyes and released a slow breath, calming himself, but he wasn't expecting her to speak up again.

"I was just trying to think of a way I could help you."

Hearing her mother's genuine warmth and kindness in her words put him at ease, though he still felt guilty for his rudeness. He gave her a weak smile, appreciating her concern. "You _are_ helping me, just by coming with me for this." His expression fell after a moment, expressing his remorse. "I'm sorry."

But Ri returned the smile a bit, shaking her head to dismiss his guilt. "It's okay. I know you've got a lot on your mind." Briefly silent, she shrugged and gave a soft laugh. "Actually, I think I'd be more worried if it _didn't_ upset you."

He returned his gaze to the viewport, recalling his many and lengthy sessions with Master Kanomin he'd endured over the past few months. "Master Kanomin says my emotions are controlling me. I'm...working on it."

"I know it's not easy."

Initially skeptical of Ri's sympathy for his situation, he quickly realized the ten-year-old girl had been through just as much turmoil as he had. She had lost both of her parents and a half sister, all before much of her training, yet she still sat at his side calmly, patient with him through his moods. As odd as it sounded, he could probably learn a thing or two from her, if he ever got the chance to ask.

"Every time I make any progress...something comes up and knocks me back right where I started, or worse. It's an awful cycle. I just want to stop it, turn it off..."

"If it were that simple, we wouldn't need any guidance." Again struck by the girl's wisdom, Koril looked over at her as she continued softly. "The struggle makes it that much more worthwhile."

He didn't disagree, but still... "I didn't ask for this."

Ri smiled again, almost amused. "We didn't ask to be Royals, either. It's just who we are." Waiting to see an improvement in his expression, she quieted her voice once more. "You'll get a handle on it, Koril. I believe in you."

He had begun to respond with his gratitude when the _Celestia_'s nav computer beeped, easing the ship out of hyperspace. The familiar sight of Coruscant's bustling activity quickly engulfed the viewport, forcing Koril to focus intently on the sensors and the calm chaos ahead of him. He navigated the ship easily enough, and once in the atmosphere headed to his contact's home, he could speak again.

"Do you know this agent we're going to see?"

"Ceyelle? No, I don't think so. But I haven't had much interaction with our deployed agents, anyway. Jec's handled that since Dad died."

"What about your Ghost Heirs?"

At that, Ri smiled warmly as she nodded. "The older one, my uncle. I met him about a year ago. He's very nice, and he reminds me a lot of my dad. He's about your age, you know."

Surprised, Koril blinked. "Your Master Heir is that young?"

Again, Ri nodded, answering him casually. "Our Tyro is just a year older than I am. I don't know who retired ahead of him... Like I said, Jec's been taking care of our business, since Uncle Veron won't, and Aunt Vianne is too busy with her sons."

Confused, Koril remained silent briefly, thinking through the Ghost Heirs he'd inadvertently met over the years. Of course he wasn't supposed to have contact with any of them besides his own, but five years ago, all of the Master Heirs had come together to help the disgraced former king Veon rescue his daughter Ri from a bounty hunter. Each of them looked so much like their Known Heirs, he didn't even have to ask which family they belonged to. The Banarecc Master Heir had indeed seemed young to him at the time, but he stood beside his older brother Veon, whose apparent age had advanced significantly with all the grief and stress he had borne in the wake of the Dalon Palace collapse and his exile. Except for the Banarecc, the other Master Heirs were roughly the same age, at least in their forties. It was odd that a Master Heir was nearly as old as others' Tyros...

Finally reaching their destination, Koril slowly lowered the _Celestia_ down onto a vacant landing platform, easily settling her though her repulsors had kicked up a swirling cloud of dust and grime into the air. A ship so large hadn't landed there in quite some time, he figured, and he wasn't surprised. It wasn't exactly the friendliest of areas on the cityplanet, but then, not much of the Underlevels were. He knew that well from firsthand experience years ago.

He stood from the controls after the ship had completely powered down, and Ri did the same, pulling her dark brown travelling cloak over her shoulders. The lightsaber hilt hanging at her waist, now hidden, still seemed surreal to him, since he still saw her as a young girl, Paneau's Princess, not a Jedi. Regardless of what she had been, he now owed her more than he could repay after she had used her new lightsaber to defend his son Derek from the Kel Dor's first kidnapping attempt. Just like her mother, Ri had put her own safety at risk to save another. She was already well on her way to becoming an impressive Jedi.

But Coruscant was unforgiving, even for the most experienced of Jedi. "Stay close to me," he told her solemnly as he clasped his own cloak at his neck. Though the _Celestia_ was emblazoned with the purple and crimson colors of the Rys'tihn Royal Family, he wore no distinctive Paneau clothing, and neither did Ri. Their goal was to remain as anonymous as possible once they left the ship; they had adopted dark and drab colored shirts and pants as their temporary uniforms.

Though it had been years since he had walked these dangerous streets himself, little had changed that he could remember. The surrounding buildings still looked as old, damaged and decrepit as he recalled, yet he and Ri were the only beings nearby that he could see. The alleys that had once been full of criminals and Coruscant's lowest of the low were now by contrast eerily vacant, unsettling him even more than a passing gang of thugs. He felt exposed and vulnerable, like they were walking into some kind of trap, but Ceyelle had secured the area in advance of their arrival, hadn't she?

Finally spotting the agent in a narrower alley up ahead, Koril gently ushered Ri forward with a hand at her shoulder, still keeping a wary eye around them. As they got closer, he could see a stern look of warning from Ceyelle, but like any good covert agent, she remained silent until they were both safely locked inside her compound.

"I don't understand why you had to come here just so I could tell you the same thing I told you two days ago: I _don't_ know where she is!"

The disapproval in her tone was harsh enough, but hearing her usual calm Coruscanti accent faltering the slightest bit was even more off-putting. He knew it was going to be hard to convince her to share intel on his exiled Ghost Heir, but he had to try.

"Ceyelle, you were the last person to have any contact with her," he began carefully. "You even helped her when she became sick. You _have_ to have some idea of where she would've gone."

Though her expression remained the same, Koril noticed her gaze momentarily lingered on Ri beside him before she returned to him. "Yes, I helped her, but I shouldn't have." Closing her eyes almost immediately, Ceyelle released a slow breath, retracting her words. "I don't regret what I did for her," she confessed, briefly more sympathetic as she looked back up at him. "But it has put me in a very delicate situation. If the other Heirs find out how I was involved with her recovery..."

"They won't."

Koril's assurance only influenced Ceyelle's demeanor minimally, prompting him to plead even more. "I need to talk to her, _please_. One of our covert agents is missing, and Deilia is the only one who knows how to find her."

Ceyelle had been a Banarecc covert agent for years; she was quite experienced and knowledgeable, one of the few Koril had worked with who was employed by a Royal Family other than his own. The genuine shock on her face as she processed what he had said was completely unmasked; she made absolutely no effort to hide the fact that she knew nothing of the incident. He struggled to to recover from his own surprise.

"Milowi Jax was attacked and taken from her home. I _have_ to find her, Ceyelle. I owe Major Jax and his family that much."

Still speechless, Ceyelle hardly moved. Surely she knew the grim significance of a covert agent's abduction, but she also seemed to be reeling from the realization that she may have been kept intentionally in the dark by the Royal Family that employed her. Swallowing hard, she began forming words to speak, but it was another female voice from behind them that spoke up first, freezing Koril's breath in his chest.

"Who? Who took her?"

Though he immediately knew that it was his twin sister Deilia who had spoken, the woman he turned around to see looked almost nothing like her.


	22. Chapter 22

_Coruscant  
Banarecc Covert Compound  
5.7 APC_

Koril couldn't find the words to answer her, not entirely sure who was standing before him. She held a heavy blanket wrapped tightly around herself, but it couldn't hide how frail her body had become. Her hair, previously long and sandy blond, was instead harshly cropped short, haphazardly spiked and no longer feminine. It was its dyed jet black color, though, that made her features look even more pale and gaunt, her eyes sunken and weary. It had been more than two long years since he had seen her, meeting her for the last time just before she was exiled, but he hadn't expected to see such a dramatic change in her.

Purposely ignoring his shock at her condition, Deilia was still more interested in what he had just said. "Who was it? Who took her, Koril?"

He could only just breathe enough to speak. "The Kel Dor."

Visibly disturbed, Deilia looked to the floor, her trembling becoming more apparent as she silently stood in place. Ceyelle quickly swept up beside her, bracing her around her shoulders to move her to a nearby couch. "You should still be resting, Deilia."

But she worried little for herself. "We were wrong," she whispered to the agent, her voice shaking with trepidation. Ceyelle, however, answered her in a hard tone that spoke volumes more than her words.

"We...were cut out."

Coming to the realization herself, Deilia relented and gave in to Ceyelle's demands, slowly lowering herself down onto the couch. Her shoulders sagged with the weight of what she had just learned, and though Koril wasn't sure what exactly their ignorance of the incident meant, he needed to know more.

Seeming to already know his request before he spoke it aloud, Ceyelle held Koril's gaze for a long moment, silently communicating her regret for having lied to him just moments earlier. He forgave her, though, with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder as she passed by him to leave with Ri; she had harbored Deilia when she desperately needed aid, and she had protected her, even from her prying brother, until Deilia herself had intervened. For that, he could be nothing but grateful. But why had Deilia still needed the protection in the first place?

Carefully sitting beside her, he studied her alarmingly thin facial features as she remained focused on the floor, waiting a few moments before quietly speaking again. "Deilia...I need to find Milowi."

She almost seemed startled by his presence beside her, but she recovered as she nodded. "I still have her distress code," she answered with confidence, but Koril wasn't expecting her to shake her head. "But I can't give it to you."

A slap in the face would have been more kind. "What! You have the best way of tracking her, finding her, and you won't let me use it?"

She expected his reaction, answering him quickly. "Milowi is...a good agent. She was my best. I know how she thinks, because it's the same way I would. If she knows that her captor is that Kel Dor...then she _will not_ activate her signal."

Not comprehending her logic, he furrowed his brows. "She doesn't want us to rescue her?"

"Koril, this man is _dangerous_. He chose to attack one of your close officers at his home, and Milowi would have fought him hard. Her first assessment of him would be that since he failed his first attempt, he's going to use her as leverage, or at the very least, as a trap to lure you and your forces right to him. She won't risk that. Any call for help from her is going to be a setup."

Defeated, Koril could hardly think. "So...we just leave her to her fate. Whatever the Kel Dor is going to do to her, we just let it happen." Getting no confirmation from her, but no denial, either, Koril shook his head. "You know I can't do that."

"Koril - "

"There _has_ to be another way we can find her!"

Though briefly stumped, Deilia thought for a few moments, humoring his demand. Surely she could come up with something; _a__nything_ would be better than nothing...

"Like I said," Deilia continued, inspired by a sudden idea, "she would have fought him hard. He would have learned very quickly just how difficult and resourceful of a captive she would be. If I had to keep her as my prisoner, I'd be forced to put her in something she wouldn't have any chance of disabling, something that would completely incapacitate her." She seemed suddenly hesitant to speak, as if mentioning it would confirm her fears. "A containment field," she finally continued, "would be the most secure way to hold her. But with that much assurance comes a possible clue for us: wherever he's holding her, there will be a significant spike in energy usage. Find an unauthorized power drain or an unusually placed power source, and you might find her there."

At least he wasn't leaving empty-handed, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed that he wouldn't be able to hunt Milowi and the Kel Dor more directly. Deilia's suggestion was already more than what they had before, so he hadn't necessarily wasted the trip. As anxious as he was to alter the search for his missing covert agent, he remained at Deilia's side, worried about her health as he looked her over with concern. It didn't take her long to pick up on his thoughts.

"I'm okay, Koril," she buffered before he could say anything. "I'm getting better. Slowly, but at least I have enough strength to walk around."

"Why are you so weak?"

She sighed, as though ashamed to admit it. "That infection...really took hold of me. Even with Ceyelle taking care of me, it's been...rough. I've been recovering ever since."

Koril blinked. "That was more than _three_ months ago, Deilia. Why didn't you tell me? I could've sent Nasu or Raval to treat you..."

But Deilia only shook her head. "Koril...it's hard enough that I've stayed here for so long. Ceyelle took a huge chance on me, and I couldn't let anyone else know, especially you, for that reason." Suddenly self-conscious, she brought a hand up to her short hair, absently pulling at a few strands that weren't nearly as long as she wanted. "I've done what I can to...disguise myself, to hold off any backlash as long as possible...but it'll come, I know."

Returning her gaze to her brother, she set her jaw determinedly. "I can take it. I don't want you to worry about me, okay? You have enough to demand your attention already...like your pregnant wife."

Though he was no longer surprised by what his Ghost Heirs knew of his personal life, it was still odd to hear it from someone else, even his sister. He and Elena hadn't told many people out of respect for Rech and Mand's delicate situation, but they also had just been handling so many other issues that it hadn't exactly been announced. Deilia seemed to interpret his solemn expression as something else entirely.

"...is she doing okay?"

Reluctant, his voice caught in his throat several times before he was able to respond. "I think so... We...we haven't seen much of each other. She took the children to the Retreat after the attack at the medical center, and I...well, I've stayed away."

Deilia hardly breathed, concerned. "Koril..."

"I don't want to hurt her," he confessed, staring intently at the floor between his feet, "or the baby, or any of my children...or my friends. I don't trust myself yet."

"Is that why you brought Ri with you?"

Taken aback by the thought he hadn't even considered, he briefly met Deilia's sympathetic gaze without words. None were necessary, really, but as he looked across the room at the young girl he had asked to accompany him on his journey, he wondered what his true motivation had been. His decision to make the trip to the city-planet had been a knee-jerk reaction; the only thing he consciously knew as he prepared to leave was that he couldn't bring any of his closest friends with him.

Rech certainly wasn't going to leave Mand's side, much less even talk to him. He wouldn't allow either of the Jedi Masters, who were helping him to keep Mand stable, to leave, either. Though they were safe at the Retreat, Elena wouldn't let the children out of her sight. Major Jax's recovery from his head injury was questionable. His protocol droid Kaydee, though normally endearing, would've driven him even further into despair with her incessant chatting for two days. Ri was his only remaining choice, but she was also his only safe choice.

"Maybe," he answered quietly, recalling the conversation he'd had with Ri just before landing on Coruscant. Other than Master Kanomin, Ri had been the only friend to verbally confirm her faith in him since his breakdown. At the same time, he knew Mand had been training her rigorously for a few years now; had that unconsciously factored into his decision, as well? Had he just assumed that the girl could...handle him, if it came down to it?

"I'm sorry."

Her apology surprised him. "For what?"

"For my part in adding to your stress. When I sent Garran to you, I didn't know you had so much going on already. There's just not a lot I can do for him in my position, so...I wanted him to be...safe."

Koril nodded gently, although curious about the sudden change in subject. "He is. A little warning would've been nice...but we got it figured out. We're taking care of him."

Smiling genuinely for the first time, Deilia relaxed for a moment, obviously relieved to hear of Garran's safe arrival on Paneau. Her expression fell, though, as she continued to study Koril's. Instead of being relieved, he remained frustrated; he and Elena wouldn't have had to worry about taking care of Garran if Deilia had been allowed to return...

"Tell me what I need to do to bring you home. You belong on Paneau, and you did nothing deserving of being stripped of your duties. Tell me who I need to convince of that."

No longer able to look him in the eye, Deilia returned her gaze to Ceyelle and Ri who were still conversing quietly on the opposite end of the room. She struggled to speak for a long silent moment, her trembling well evident once she could finally form words. "Koril, there's a reason Ceyelle has been helping me as much as she has, especially when she could face discipline for it... Ri isn't just talking to a Banarecc covert agent...she's talking to her _aunt_, her father's older sister." She paused briefly to still her shaking, though to no avail. "Ceyelle was born Veomiin Banarecc, and she was the Banarecc Master Heir when she was exiled thirteen years ago. _Thirteen years_... I've only been gone for two. I don't think there's _any_ way I'll be able to go home... Not for a long time."

Koril clenched his jaw. "You know I don't accept that."

"You don't have a choice. You have to."

Suddenly weary with the physical and emotional drain of their discussion, Deilia swayed briefly beside him, but he was quick to wrap his arm around her back and steady her against him. She rested her head on his shoulder, grateful for his support, but he only held her more tightly, understanding for the first time just how weak she truly was.

"Deilia," Ceyelle addressed her with concern as she approached, "you need to lay down. You've done too much today."

Either Deilia was too worn out to answer, or she knew she didn't have any basis on which to argue; either way, she remained silent, and Koril knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake or even upright for much longer. He nodded to Ceyelle, taking charge of his sister's care as he'd never done before.

"Come on," he gently urged her as he carefully stood with her. "I'll get you back to bed."

Though sluggish and still silent, Deilia slowly walked with him to her room, relying more and more on his hold with each step. He was nearly supporting her entire weight by the time they reached the bed. She was at least able to ease herself down onto it without much trouble, and even with the heavy blanket still wrapped around her, she continued to shiver. Koril grabbed a second blanket nearby and draped it over her, ensuring her comfort as best he could as he sat at her side. Her eyes remained closed, but she smiled her gratitude as she warmed and her shaking subsided.

"I never thought that it would be so exhausting...to be so exhausted all the time."

It was a phenomenon Koril had become all too familiar with as he recovered from the devastating Huxnel virus several years ago. "I know exactly what you mean."

Immediately, Deilia's smile faded and she met his gaze in slight fear, as if she hadn't considered the obvious similarity with his past experience. He had fought for his life for months, and his recovery had been twice that long. Not intending to have made her feel guilty, though, he offered her a small smile of his own. "It'll get better. Not as quickly as you want it to, but...just be patient."

She nodded after a moment to accept his advice, but her expression hadn't lightened much, if at all. Something still worried her, and though she hesitated, she finally spoke again, her voice slightly more weak and hoarse. "Don't...don't tell Garran about my...condition. I don't want him to worry about me, especially after the way he lost his mother..."

He agreed as he stood from her side, and after kissing her at her temple, he gently brushed his hand through her hair. "I'll tell him you said hi." He turned to leave her to rest, but before he got far, she stopped him.

"And Koril..."

Looking back to her, he was surprised to meet her stern, grim gaze.

"_Don't_ come back here again, looking for me... I won't be here."

Though not altogether surprised by her demand, he still couldn't accept it... "Then how will I find you when I need you?"

Her answer was expected, as well. "You won't."

Severely disappointed but knowing he was unable to challenge her, he nodded weakly and left, silently returning to the _Celestia_ with Ri close in tow.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_  
_5.9 APC - two months later_

Briefly disoriented as she was awakened from a light sleep, Elena immediately studied the vital signs and status monitors above Major Jax's bed from her chair beside him. They all read normal, at least, as normal as they had been since he'd been treated, so it wasn't an alarm that had roused her. Jax remained in a coma of sorts, a deep, restorative sleep that Master Rylka had placed him under to allow his brain to heal on its own, and he showed no signs of trying to wake from it. So what was it that had woken her?

Looking to the room's entrance, she smiled as Swip quietly stepped up to her, the first she had seen of him for a few weeks. "Swip," she greeted him fondly, shifting herself in her chair to face him properly. Swip nodded and gave her a taut smile in return.

"M'lady," he answered her softly, sounding tired but concerned about her. "I came to see how you were doing."

After checking on Major Jax a second time, Elena stood from her seat, having to maneuver herself somewhat awkwardly with her enlarging stomach. Always sensitive to her needs, Swip was quick to supportively take her hand and help her to her feet, and it broadened her smile.

"I'm just fine, Swip," she assured him as she lifted herself up onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you." Sensing a lingering heaviness to his mood, she allowed her smile to fade as she continued. "Any new leads on the Kel Dor?"

Swip shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not, m'lady."

Saddened as well, she looked back to the sleeping Major and released a soft sigh. "I was hoping we'd have at least something good to tell him when he wakes up, but...I guess it'll just have to be good enough that we won't have to tell him the worst."

"Do you think he'll wake up soon?"

She nodded. "I think so. His vitals have been getting stronger with each of Master Rylka's healing sessions, and I can sense his improvement, too. It's been slow, but...steady. Maybe in the next few days."

"I know Tavyna's anxious to see him."

"I've had a hard enough time remaining patient all this time," she confessed softly, her heart heavy with sympathy. "I can't imagine what it must be like for her, being without her parents for so long... She's only a few months younger than Dirani. It's hard to not think...that maybe this should've happened to us, instead of to the Jaxes."

Discouraged by her poor spirits, Swip gently gripped her shoulders, meeting her gaze squarely. "M'lady, no one is deserving of this. It's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. The Jaxes are strong, you know that. And Tavyna is just like her parents...she'll be okay."

She agreed with a small smile, thankful for his calming wisdom once more. They had shared several similar exchanges over the years, reassuring each other in times of need, and his compassion was always so comforting. She had begun to thank him aloud when a subtle movement at the extreme periphery of her vision caught her attention. She had almost ignored it, but as she looked to Major Jax, she saw his eyes slowly lifting open.

Back at his side in an instant, she carefully took hold of his right hand as she searched his half-open eyes. "Major?"

Even in his weak lucidity, he didn't seem startled by the sudden presence of visitors beside him, worrying her greatly. He did eventually meet her gaze, though, and despite the time it took for his eyes to focus, he seemed to relax as he recognized her.

"M'lady..."

His voice sounded as rough and weak as she would've expected after two months, but just relieved to see him awake and alert, she smiled warmly at him. "How are you feeling?"

His breathing was slow and deliberate, as though he had to make a conscious effort for each breath. The monitors around him hadn't made a sound, though, so he was at least remaining stable. When he finally spoke again, she could hear the pain in his voice, and it twisted her stomach into knots.

"Head...splitting..."

Gently placing her hand across his forehead, she did what she could to ease his aching with the Force. His eyes closed with her touch, and once the grimace on his face subsided, she pressed further. "Do you remember what happened?"

After thinking for a moment, he had begun to shake his head, but his headache quickly halted his movement, and he had to speak. "No..."

"You're in the Dalon Medical Center," she explained quietly, though hesitant to go into much detail. "You were attacked at your home, and your head injury was very serious. You've been recovering for a while."

She paused briefly, allowing him the chance to process what she had told him. At first he showed little reaction, but as the seconds wore on, his brows furrowed in concern. "Home... Tavyna?"

"She's just fine, she's safe. She wasn't hurt."

Though he was laying down and hadn't moved much at all since waking up, his relief was still well evident as tension left his entire body through his breath. She felt him squeeze her hand in gratitude, but as he looked up at his other visitor, his eyes widened slightly in confusion, seeing Swip standing beside him opposite Elena. He had expected to see his wife.

Returning his gaze to her, he barely had the strength to speak. "...Milowi?"

Tightening her hand around his, she struggled to find the words herself. "The man who attacked you, the Kel Dor...he took her. But we're doing everything we can to find her, I promise. We haven't stopped looking."

Understandably, Jax froze in shock, sending his monitors into a frenzy. Desperate to calm him, she stroked his cheek, again calling on the Force to aid him.

"Major, try to relax... We have every reason to believe she's still alive. We _will_ find her."

Her efforts paid off somewhat as he continued to breathe slowly, but his trembling quickly evolved into something far more troubling. His left arm, previously laying limply at his side, had begun to roll back and forth involuntarily, akin to a convulsive tremor. She had seen it before in a survivor of the neurotoxin attack that had killed Veon Banarecc more than three years ago, and the thought that he had suffered the same neurological damage stole her own breath. If it hadn't been for Master Rylka's timely intervention, placing Major Jax under a regenerative sleep once more, Elena might not have even been able to help stabilize him at all.


	23. Chapter 23

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_  
_5.9 APC_

Already finding the children busy with crafts and other morning activities in the main playroom, Yhren Natiyr smiled brightly as she joined her niece at a small, short table. The girl was quiet and reserved, as she had been since Yhren had arrived more than two months ago, but she at least gave her aunt a tiny, familiar smile before returning to a drawing she had very nearly completed already.

"Good morning, Sweetie," Yhren greeted her fondly with a light kiss on the top of her head. "What a beautiful picture! Where did you learn to draw so well?"

Intent on finishing a few final details with bright blue paint around an abstract figure of a person, Cordira answered without looking up. "Garran taught me."

Though Yhren was quite certain he couldn't have heard Cordira from the opposite end of the room, Garran met her gaze the instant she looked over to him. He was helping the two Rys'tihn children with their messy but fun projects at another table, but he paused just long enough to smile kindly at her, and she found herself smiling back warmly. Just as she had paid special attention to Cordira during her lengthy stay at the Rys'tihn Retreat, Garran had kept Derek and Dirani entertained, distracted, even, while their parents were also absent daily. As she had learned quickly, Derek and Cordira were staunchly inseparable, making Yhren realize just how much time she had spent with Garran, too, and how she had come to enjoy his friendly company. As their gazes lingered a long moment, she found herself suddenly self-conscious with a curious warming sensation in her cheeks. She quickly returned her attention to Cordira to feed her denial, looking over the girl's drawing with a discerning eye.

"So who did you draw?"

Suddenly reluctant to answer, Cordira looked up at her and studied Yhren's face for a moment, as if determining if she could be trusted. She made her decision and shrugged a bit, beginning to sound somewhat elusive. "It's my friend."

"Your friend? Derek, or someone you know at school?"

"No," she answered quietly, returning her brush to the paint jar. "She visits me and talks to me at night...when I'm sad that I haven't seen my mommy."

Her interest piqued, Yhren moved closer to the girl and affectionately stroked her fire-red hair. "That is very nice of her. What does she talk to you about?"

"Things," she continued vaguely, and though Yhren expected her to close up completely, she added with quiet excitement, "and she teaches me like a Jedi."

Ah, just as she suspected: Cordira had imagined herself a replacement for her mother who had been so deathly ill for months. Though she thought it sad, at least Cordira had found a way to cope that kept her happy. "And what's her name?"

Cordira shrugged uninterestedly. "I don't know. She doesn't tell me. But she says she knows me, and Mommy and Daddy, and Elena and Koril... She's very nice, and very pretty, and - "

"Daddy!"

Yhren turned to look as Dirani squealed shrilly, taking off at an elated sprint from her seat into the outstretched arms of her father who had just entered the room with Elena beside him. It was the first time Yhren had seen Koril since her arrival, and though she understood the reason for his distance, she could tell the children had suffered the most for it. Derek quickly followed after his sister, just as excited to see his mother, as well. They had inadvertently left Garran at their table alone, but only glad to see the two children so happy, he stood and stepped over to join Yhren and Cordira. It was another guest that walked up behind him, though, that fluttered her heart unexpectedly as she swiftly got to her feet.

"Ms. Natiyr," Lieutenant Saross Wip addressed her with a warm smile, then nodded to Garran as he turned around to him. "Mr. Bolc. Good morning."

"Lieutenant," Yhren returned the smile, looking over his fine formal uniform. Though she had hardly spent more than a few hours with him, most of which had been during her escort from the Dalon Main Spaceport to the med center when she had first arrived, she was already quite taken by the charming, handsome pilot. Over the weeks, she had seen how often the lieutenant had accompanied Elena in Koril's absence, indicative of their deep trust in him. Intensely curious about him, she had begun to ask him a question when she noticed, from across the room, just how extremely fatigued Elena seemed to be, even with both of her children in her presence. It worried her deeply, turning her smile into concern instead. "Is Elena alright?"

Briefly glancing back at the Rys'tihns, Lt. Wip nodded, releasing a slow breath as he explained. "Yes, she's okay, they just...had a very long night. Major Jax woke from his coma earlier in the evening, but he still has some healing to do. He showed some kind of tremor in his hand, and her emotions took over. She had worked with some of the survivors of the neurotoxin attack at the Banarecc Estate a few years ago; they had suffered...similar effects, and I think it really scared her. I brought her to the Manor since she was so upset, and although it took a while, the High Commander was able to calm her. She should be fine, now that he will be home for some time."

"Will the major recover?"

"I think so," Lt. Wip answered Garran. "He seemed to have a decent grasp on his surroundings. He couldn't remember what had happened to him, but he asked about his wife and daughter, and he...reacted when we told him about Milowi."

Yhren sighed sadly. "The poor man... Has she been found?"

"Not yet."

Garran looked sad, too. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Lt. Wip shook his head. "Their daughter is being taken care of by the major's brother, and the Royal Forces are still searching for traces of the Kel Dor here on Paneau. There's not much else to do."

Stealing another quick glance at Garran, Yhren was a little surprised to see how genuinely regretful he was that he could offer no aid. How strange, she thought, as he had practically become the Rys'tihn children's personal nanny, leaving him little time for anything else. And surely he hadn't known the major or his family for very long, either, yet he wanted so desperately to help?

Another visitor stepped into the room, an older man Yhren had seen several times before but never met. He wore a simpler, more casual uniform than Lt. Wip's, a plain crimson tunic atop deep purple pants just like the rest of the Retreat staff, but it was his intense expression that most earned Yhren's attention. The man moved quickly to speak with Elena and Koril, and spotting an odd look on Lt. Wip's face, Yhren decided to inquire.

"Who is that?"

"Witt Larkan. He's the staff coordinator here at the Retreat," he answered quietly. His voice was even softer as he continued sadly. "It doesn't look like he has good news..."

Yhren thought the same as a cold, sinking feeling settled into the pit of her stomach. He could have been bringing them a report on any number of concerns they had; Koril was the High Commander of Paneau's Royal Forces, after all, and maybe it didn't even have to do with them in the first place. Her hopes were mercilessly crushed, though, the instant Elena looked over to her with tears forming in her already weary eyes, and Yhren only expected the worst.

Frozen in place, she watched breathlessly as the Rys'tihns and Larkan silently crossed the room toward her. It wasn't until she felt Lt. Wip's sturdy but gentle grip on one arm and his other steadying her around her shoulders that she realized how much she was shaking and swaying as she stood. No one spoke until she did.

"...Mand?"

Larkan drew in a slow breath. "She's...not doing well. Your brother's requested you."

It was what she had feared since discovering Mand in her self-induced hibernation trance in the med center. Though she had been steadily wasting away, sacrificing her own health to support her growing twins, Yhren had begun to believe that maybe, just maybe, she'd survive...

"I'll go with you, Yhren," Elena offered, her voice weak. Somehow able to leave her state of shock, Yhren shook her head as she unintentionally looked down at Elena's round stomach.

"No, Elena..."

But Elena was quick to wave off her concern, steeling her resolve with a hard swallow. "It's okay." She turned to Koril beside her and kissed him on the cheek, smoothing Dirani's hair as Koril held her in his arms.

"I'll stay with the children," Koril confirmed, gently hugging Derek against his leg.

Still standing behind Yhren, keeping her upright, Lt. Wip spoke up softly. "I'll take you there, m'lady."

Elena nodded and swept up to Yhren's other side, carefully supporting her, too, as the three made their way to the hangar downstairs.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_

Though she wasn't sure where her energy was coming from, Elena led the other two down the hall to Mand's room, nearly sprinting by the time she reached it. She stopped immediately, though, as Master Kanomin met her just outside the door, her expression worn and somber as it had been for weeks. But seeing that the room she had just left was completely _empty _behind her, Elena gripped Master Kanomin's arm hard, barely able to speak in her shock.

"_Master_ - "

"She's been moved downstairs," Master Kanomin answered her unasked question, though not quickly enough to stay her anxiety. "She's in the critical care ward now. It's closer to the surgical suites." Looking between the concerned three, she released a long, weary breath. "Come on, I'll take you down there."

Returning her attention to Yhren as they followed Master Kanomin through the medical center, Elena wasn't sure how much more pale her friend's face could become. Swip was still steadying her around her shoulders, and without his gentle guidance, she might not have moved from her place at all. If Rech was in as poor a condition as she expected with his wife and twin daughters in possible jeopardy, could Yhren comfort her brother, or would she be too lost in her own despair?

The silence of their trek through the halls wore on her with each step, forcing her mind to fill the void with errant thoughts she had tried to suppress. Would Rech even allow her into the room, as furious as he had remained with Koril after their altercation months ago? As much as it killed her to know that her husband had so grievously injured Mand and maybe even the twins, she also knew just how much progress Koril had made in the interim. His mind was clearer than ever, thanks to Master Kanomin's careful instruction, and he was no longer plagued by overwhelming "voices" and clouded judgment. But Rech wouldn't even allow Koril the chance to apologize, so would his grudge extend to her, as well?

Arriving at the smaller vestibule in front of Mand's main room, Elena couldn't even see her inside it with all the nurses and doctors swarming around her bed. It was a familiar scene Elena had witnessed before when Koril's health had similarly crashed, and the same fear she had experienced then returned just as severely, mercilessly twisting her stomach into sharp, painful knots. Every few moments, Elena caught glimpses of bright red, the hue of Master Rylka's Lethan Twi'lek skin. So at least one healer had remained with Mand, and Master Kanomin had gone back into the room after bringing them there, but...where was Rech?

As if hearing her silent question, Rech backpedaled out of the room into the small foyer, holding his head in his hands with a wild, lost look on his face. Though she had seen first-hand how desolate he had become after Mand's kidnapping and four-year-long disappearance when they were teens...he now stood there in the most disturbed state Elena had ever seen. She was terrified for him.

"Rech?"

Only focused on her brother, Yhren had stepped in front of him to distract him from the chaos inside the room, but his reaction to her presence, bordering on rage, nearly forced Elena to intervene.

_"What_ are you doing here!"

But graceful under fire as usual, Yhren only looked on Rech with compassion, her voice firm yet gentle at the same time. "They said you asked for me...so here I am."

As if only just remembering his request in his despair, his anger began to fade. The longer he held her gaze, though, the more visibly upset he became. His breathing quickened to nearly uncontrollable gasps intermingled with sobs, and it wasn't until Yhren reached up and held his face in her hands that he finally broke down, overwrought with emotion and severe fatigue. He struggled to form coherent words.

"She won't...she won't let me...take the girls," he managed, becoming weaker by the moment. "She wants...two weeks, another _two_ weeks...but...but she won't last one."

Rech's anguish was so hard for Elena to hear, knowing that neither she nor Yhren could do much to comfort him. As his knees buckled underneath him in his grief, Yhren was at least able to guide him to a bench against the wall to sit on, kneeling in front of him as she held tightly to his hands.

"Her heart is failing," he continued breathlessly, exhaustion taking over, "and the rest of her organs...are shutting down. I can't...I can't do this... I can't..."

Stepping up to Rech's side, Elena gripped his shoulder, gently supporting his upper body as he wavered. "Surely the twins are developed enough... Couldn't they survive?"

He shook his head, even more distraught. "The doctor's don't think their lungs are ready yet. They want more time, too, but...she won't last." Returning his gaze to his sister, he pleaded desperately, his voice weak and shaking. "What do I do? What am I supposed to do?"

Yhren only gripped his hands more earnestly, releasing a shaky breath herself. "I can't tell you that, Rech...but whatever you decide, I am here for you."

It wasn't what he wanted to hear. He pulled his hands from hers and brought one to his forehead, beginning to hyperventilate in his distress. Though she wasn't sure if it would work, an idea came to Elena that seemed to be the only option they had left. He was weak and frail enough, she just might have the right amount of power over him...

With her hand still on his shoulder, she channeled the Force to him, cautiously exerting her will on him while at the same time trying to calm him. "Rech, you should lie down..."

Completely surprising her, he complied without any protest, lowering himself down on his back onto the bench. His breathing even slowed as she maintained her hold on him, continuing to feed him comforting Force energy to ease his racing mind. As he took in a long, deep breath, his eyes closed heavily...and Yhren shot her a challenging look, having figured it out.

"Why are you doing that to him!"

After making sure that he was comfortably asleep, she released him, sighing sadly. "He needs the rest, Yhren. He won't get it any other way."

Though she looked as though she would rebut, she relented after a moment, understanding that Elena was right. She looked back to her brother with sympathy, brushing her fingers through his hair as she watched his silent slumber.

"His birthday is in three days."

The realization hit Elena hard. Not only was it Rech's birthday, but it was Cordira's, as well. Even harder to fathom was the fact that it would also mark the sixth anniversary of the Dalon Palace collapse, the darkest day in Paneau's history...

"And," Yhren continued hesitantly, "...my mother will arrive tomorrow. She _still_ doesn't know."

The look in Yhren's eyes wasn't hard to interpret. She felt guilty that she hadn't informed her mother, Untra Natiyr, about Mand's condition, but, just like her brother...she couldn't bring herself to.

"I'll talk to her," Elena offered softly, much to Yhren's relief.

* * *

His constant, pounding headache made it nearly impossible for Major Aurin Jax to get any sleep. He had no idea how many days it had been since he'd woken from his coma; they'd all felt the same to him, filled with nothing but pain and depression. Except for waking up to Elena and Swip at his side the first time, he hadn't had many visitors other than medical staff since. No one could tell him if his wife Milowi had been found, or if they even knew if she was still alive. He had yet to see his daughter Tavyna, but no one would bring her to him, even for just a short visit. His numerous requests to leave the hospital continued to fall on deaf ears, leaving him alone to worry and wonder and agonize...

As his eyes began to water with escalating pain, his eyelids closed heavily despite knowing that sleep would continue to elude him. He instead tried to lose himself in memories: his daughter's gleeful, infectious giggling as she tried to escape his tickling, her enthusiastic, whole-body hugs, his wife's radiant, beautiful smile beside him every morning for more than twelve years...but his mind quickly wandered. What would he do if Milowi was never found? What if they found her, but they were too late to save her? Paralyzing fear gripped him in an icy hold, tightening his chest so forcefully he no longer noticed his headache. He opened his eyes as he took in a gasping breath - and saw Ri Banarecc standing patiently beside him.

Briefly unsure if he were still dreaming, he exhaled slowly, waiting to see if she remained in place. She smiled kindly at him to put him at ease, but he struggled to find his voice just the same. "Princess."

"Hello, Major," she greeted him formally. "I'm sorry I woke you."

He managed to shake his head a little, dismissing her apology as unnecessary. If she was bringing news... "Have they found my wife?"

Her lengthy silence gave him the answer he expected, but as he looked away defeated, he was certain he'd misheard her.

"I think we may have."

His lungs no longer worked. Surely he was still dreaming. "...what? Where!"

"A remote, abandoned factory near the Naeron Mountains. The High Commander has organized a small extraction team to rescue her."

"An extraction team," he repeated in breathless disbelief. "They think she's still alive?"

With a cautiously hopeful smile, Ri slowly nodded.

Reeling from the report, a thousand questions rushed through his mind. He couldn't focus on one long enough to speak, prompting Ri to continue instead.

"Major...I'm part of that team. And I want you to be there with us."

Nothing had pained him more than not being able, or not being allowed, rather, to participate in the search for his own wife once he felt that he could. Now that he was being invited, he wouldn't let anything stop him, not even the nurses in the hall who were eying his skyrocketing heart rate. Swallowing hard to calm his nerves, he nodded.

"Just tell me what I need to do, Princess."

"Well, first," she answered lightly, "you shouldn't address me as Princess any longer. I haven't been one for months." Though he wasn't sure what she meant, she continued before he could ask. "And second, just prove to me you're well enough to go. The staff doesn't think you're ready, but I do."

Without hesitation, he removed the sheet that had been covering his legs and stood unassisted, and though he wore nothing more than a standard hospital shirt and pants, he didn't care. Satisfied with his unwavering state, Ri nodded and handed him a duffel bag containing his Elite Guard uniform.

"We're leaving in an hour. I'll come back for you."

Thankfully she left before she could see him steady himself against his bed he'd just left, but he hadn't felt more energized since he'd woken up.


	24. Chapter 24

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_6.0 APC_

The extraction team's shuttle couldn't have been more silent as the tense minutes wore on. Under the skilled direction of Lieutenant Saross Wip, the small, agile ship was only just skimming the rocky terrain below it, barely a breath from nicking upward-projecting formations along its vulnerable belly. Soon they would reach the forested portion of the mountain range, where they would land the shuttle and continue on foot, hopefully keeping their arrival at the abandoned factory as stealthy as possible. The plan was simple enough, but unable to predict just how well the Kel Dor had defended his hideaway, it was the execution that was likely to change.

As Ri looked to each member of the team, she could tell their silence was one of their tools. They were handpicked for the mission from the Elite Guard, the most well-trained and specialized operatives in the Royal Forces, and though she didn't know any of them personally, she trusted them. Despite having been delayed from their deployment by three days, they were all intensely focused and prepared...at least, as prepared as they could be with the little intel they had been able to gather.

With security at an all-time high, the Dalon Palace Memorial Ceremonies had kept Milowi's rescue mission on standby. Understandably, King Verojec wanted his half-sister at his side for the day-long remembrance of the disaster that had claimed so many and violently launched Paneau into its darkest days. Ri had been eager to participate with him as they specially honored her late mother during this sixth anniversary, but she regretted having gotten Major Jax's hopes up so soon after he had regained consciousness. After inviting him, she had forced him to prove that he was well enough to accompany them on the mission, and though he had seemed sturdy just days earlier, she watched his left hand tremble noticeably as it rested atop his thigh.

He sat just behind the cockpit, his gaze firmly fixed out the viewport into the deep darkness that blanketed the foothills ahead of them. Had she not known any better, she would've simply thought it nerves or anxiety making his hand shake, but she was beginning to second guess herself. Maybe he _hadn't_ recovered enough to travel with them, and the stress of the search for his wife would only worsen his condition...

Somehow feeling her focus on him, Major Jax turned and looked back at Ri...and right away, he noticed her attention on his hand. Self-conscious, he quickly clasped his hands together to mask the tremor, though to little avail. He straightened his posture as if proving his strength to her once more, though perhaps it had more to do with protecting his pride. But as Ri moved to step over to him, Lt. Wip made an announcement, the first words spoken since they'd left Dalon over an hour ago.

"Arriving at first target landing zone in fifteen seconds."

The leader of the team, Commander J'Arvir Strai, stood from his seat in the rear of the hold and tugged tight the straps over his shoulders. The only non-human in the group, J'Arvir's appearance already commanded their attention: he was a tall, muscular Zabrak, a native Paneau and veteran of the Elite Guard for more than twenty years. His own choice, he carried a backpack with an array of supplies they'd most likely need, as did his second in command, Pavali, a lanky, golden-haired woman. Three more men seated beside Pavali rounded out the two teams, and with a crisp nod from Commander Strai, they all began last minute gear preps in nearly perfect synchronization.

"Remember," Strai began coolly as he holstered a small holdout blaster on his belt, "comm blackout until Mrs. Jax is secured. Coordinates will be dispatched in a standard hour for a rally point if your team gets separated. Princess, stay close to me."

Though she could feel her cheeks warming with frustration at being singled out, Ri held her breath and nodded, keeping her senses on keen alert. This mission was her first official chance to demonstrate her skills as a Jedi, and being ordered under heavy protection, most likely by her brother, wasn't going to keep her from being at her best.

The familiar hum of engines slowing to a halt was the only sound Ri heard as the shuttle's rear ramp lowered, and rocking forward with the gentlest of landings, she watched as the first team, Pavali and two men, swiftly exited and disappeared into the darkness outside. A quick roar of power lifted the shuttle back into the air, and a few tense moments later, another landing was the second team's cue to disembark. Ri only just had time to glance at Major Jax up in the cockpit, giving him a confident nod before she, too, left the shuttle with Strai and their third teammate, Dahr.

In a matter of seconds, the shuttle was gone, leaving a deafening, eerie silence in the wild, solitary valley. Neither Strai nor Dahr moved beside her, hunkered down in the tall brush for what felt like an eternity. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the deep night, as did her ears to the new sounds, like small nocturnal foragers moving about nearby. Becoming more anxious by the second, her own heartbeat pounded so loudly she was certain Strai could hear it, but she took in slow, calculated breaths, drawing on her training to calm her nerves. Just as her Master had instructed her for the past two years, she used the Force as an extension of her senses, feeling the surrounding area...

With a quick tap on her shoulder, Strai took up a steady, swift pace toward the abandoned factory a half kilometer ahead, a lifeless, dilapidated building in the middle of a serene field. They would soon leave the natural brush cover they had landed in, but discarded mining equipment littered the ground outside the building, providing more chances to hide should they need it. Ri kept up just on Strai's heels as she swept her gaze back and forth, scanning for any dangers they might encounter, and Dahr watched behind them as they progressed forward. As a unit, they moved in tandem as though they'd been operating together for years, focused and determined for the mission. The longer they continued ahead without incident, though...the more Ri's anxiety began to wear her down.

Almost at the factory's doorstep, Strai led the three to a large overturned crate, kneeling down behind it to pause, listening for any new movement or alarms they might have triggered. Ri and Dahr did the same, barely breathing though they'd nearly sprinted the entire way. With her senses trained on the building, Ri slowly peered up at the towering structure, studying its design and appearance. On the outside, it appeared just as its schematics said it would, fairly simple in dimension and function, but thinking through the mission briefing they'd had just hours earlier, something suddenly felt very, very different...

"Strai," she whispered as carefully as possible. She quickly earned his intense attention, and swallowing to steel her nerves, she kept her tone even. "We need to go _down_."

He only furrowed his brows in response, demanding an explanation without a word.

"I think...I can sense her," she continued quietly, "very weak, very far down."

She didn't have to read the commander's mind to know what he was thinking. The factory's schematics had originally described the building as a processing center with its production mine nearby, but the two were not connected. If she was right, and Milowi was being held far below in the abandoned mine instead of within the factory itself as they had thought, then it was possible that the two teams could be walking into a trap. Strai's gaze met Dahr's for a minute, carefully weighing their options before he nodded and tapped a keypad on his wrist, sending a silent signal to the other team. Ri knew he had to be more concerned than his outward appearance let on. though; with the signal he'd just sent, he had told Pavali's team to hold their position.

Strai, Dahr, and Ri would be entirely on their own for the rest of the rescue.

Undeterred, Ri looked expectantly to Strai, waiting for him to give the order to move. With another glance at Dahr, Strai nodded and started for the mine entrance, and again, the three moved in formation. They closed the distance rapidly, and after a quick sweep of the entrance, they drew their blasters, lit their glowrods, and descended into the mine.

Decades of neglect and wildlife growth were evident all around them, but there were no new tracks or footprints on the floor as they went, adding an even more mysterious air to the shaft. There was no air movement, no perceivable sound except for their careful steps, but Ri _knew_ they were headed in the right direction. Her feelings were pulling her down, deeper and deeper into the mine, she was quite certain of that, but how long would Strai believe her?

The shaft spiraled down for at least a kilometer, she guessed, and both Strai and Dahr remained silent as they moved, still on high alert. When the walls slowly began to shorten and the corridor began to narrow, as if they were coming up on the mine's end, Ri slowly came to a stop, doubt suddenly creeping into her mind and forcing her to second guess herself. She had been so _sure_...

Strai and Dahr stood tensely beside her, wordless as they waited for her explanation. She closed her eyes and held her breath, opening herself to everything around her, stretching her senses as far as they would go...

A quick, buzzing _zap_ caught her attention and snapped her eyes open. But as she looked to her team, neither had reacted to what she had heard, still studying her reaction. It was an electrical spark, a sound unique to a fluctuating power generator...

"Glowrods off," she instructed curtly with inspiration. Strai and Dahr only hesitated a moment before complying, uncomfortable with plunging themselves into the darkness of the mine so completely, but she had to listen for it with all other devices powered down.

...and she heard it. Coming from even further down in the mine, a low, electric droning _hum_.

"A containment field," Dahr announced aloud, having heard it, too.

With their glowrods instantly reignited, Ri took off at a sprint toward the sound, pulling her lightsaber hilt from her belt. The hum grew louder and louder as they neared the belly of the mine, and spotting a familiar blue glow from the shaft up ahead, she knew they'd found her.

"Milowi!"

Rounding a bend in the corridor, Ri stopped to find the mine open to a round chamber, centered around one containment field that not only suspended a motionless Milowi by her wrists...but it also held the room's ceiling in place above them. Several beams all crossed and converged onto one lone vertical support in the middle of the room that was locked into position by the electromagnetic field, and displacing it even a millimeter could prove disastrous...for all of them. Ri could hardly breathe.

"Can we get her down?"

Commander Strai studied the room's structure silently, attempting to make that determination as he thought through other options. There was no control console for the containment field that they could see, only a power generator at the far end of the chamber that seemed to be supplying the field's energy. Though Ri's knowledge of the technology was limited, she at least knew that without the means to selectively disable the field holding Milowi aloft, they'd have to sabotage the entire unit, which would collapse the room on top of them.

"Maybe the wrist cuffs can be disconnected separately," Dahr offered carefully, but Strai was quick to shake his head.

"They could be rigged to disengage the field if they're tampered with." Taking in a slow breath, Strai set his jaw. "We can bring some of that old equipment down here from the surface, pile it up to the ceiling to hold it up."

"Or I could do it."

Meeting Strai and Dahr's surprised glances with a confident one of her own, Ri spoke with determination. "Bringing those things down here will take too long. Milowi needs help _now._ I can hold that beam in place long enough for you two to get her down and take her up to the surface."

The two men locked gazes for several tense moments, heightening her anxiety. As she expected, though, Strai returned to her and shook his head again. "Princess -"

"_Listen_," she continued adamantly, "she does not have time. I _can_ do this, Commander."

Though Strai began to protest once more, he stole another glance at Milowi, barely breathing but still alive, and with a quick nod, both he and Dahr stepped over to the center of the room. Once they took up their positions just below Milowi, Ri closed her eyes and stretched out her hands, extending her invisible grip on the beam with the Force as a slow, steady breath left her. Telekinesis was her strongest skill, and it always had been, but knowing just how much was riding on her mastery, she had to remain so focused, so determined, so strong...

"Ready?"

Taking only a moment longer to solidify her hold, Ri nodded and drew on the Force even more as a single blaster bolt rang out, followed immediately by the loud _crack_ of a power surge as Strai destroyed the containment field's power generator. She couldn't concentrate on much else, though, only on holding the support beam up...and she could tell it was slipping. She kept her eyes tightly shut, blocking out all her senses except for what she could hear. The other beams creaked and moaned with the added stress they suddenly had to bear, but she only had to keep it up for a few more seconds...

She heard Strai and Dahr sprinting away up the shaft, taking Milowi with them as quickly as they could. She would have to follow soon, but she held on as long as she could keep her grip, giving them as much time as possible in case the collapse began a cascade that would follow them to the surface. In her mind, she could already see it happening; would she be fast enough to stay ahead of it?

She heard Strai's voice weakly echoing down the shaft to her, calling for her to follow, and with one final burst of strength, one last boost of Force power, she relinquished her hold and flew as fast as her feet would carry her.

* * *

Glancing at the shuttle's chrono, Major Jax refused to believe that only a standard hour had crawled by, certain that it had been at least three. His left hand tremor had only intensified as the night wore on, a reflection of his increasing anxiety and his worsening headache, but thankfully Lt. Wip had remained silent beside him. Both were on edge as they sat in the lifeless ship, awaiting the return of the two teams at their predetermined rally point, and Jax couldn't help but fix his gaze out the viewport into the pitch black outside.

He tried to keep his mind clear by focusing on a distant object, a mountain peak silhouetted against the starry sky, but his mind continued to race, bringing back memories of the night he almost couldn't remember. He had gone downstairs to his daughter Tavyna's room to put her back to bed, since the girl had suffered yet another nightmare in the aftermath of the disaster at the Dalon Academy. It had taken the better part of an hour to comfort her, and once she had gone back to sleep, he left to return to his room...but the Kel Dor stopped him before he had even reached the staircase. He remembered no unusual noises, nothing out of place around him; he had been completely taken by surprise, and it angered him. He should've fought back, he should've been able to protect his family, but he hadn't. If he lost Milowi because of it...he'd never be able to forgive himself.

Though bitter tears formed in his eyes and blurred his vision briefly, he stared hard, watching the illusion of movement in the darkness ahead. The longer he watched, though, the more he noticed that they were moving uniformly, becoming human forms approaching in the brush. Only hesitant for a split second, he spotted the glowing wrist comlinks on the figures, signatures of the Elite Guard teams that were returning.

"They're back," he managed to speak, getting Lt. Wip's attention, and Jax was on his feet in an instant, meeting the three at the shuttle's rear ramp.

Breathless, he looked desperately between the operatives for his wife...but they had returned empty handed.

"We were signaled to maintain our position before we got into the factory," Pavali answered his unasked question, looking to him for an explanation, too. "The other team hasn't returned yet?"

A sickening, sinking feeling settled into the pit of his stomach. Pavali's team had returned at the standard hour mark, routine operating procedure for stealth missions like this, and if she hadn't heard from Strai or even Ri...

"There!"

Jax followed Lt. Wip's line of sight out the back of the shuttle, somehow spotting the second team still far out in the brush. They were moving swiftly, nearly running, and only when he saw them carrying Milowi on a stretcher between them did he release a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding for minutes.

"Get this shuttle moving, quickly!" Strai ordered as he and Dahr rapidly climbed up the ramp and into the main hold, gently settling Milowi on a bench. Lt. Wip complied, powering up the shuttle and getting it airborne before the ramp had even been lifted. Almost numb with shock and relief, Jax knelt beside his wife, carefully taking hold of her bruised, broken hand as he looked her over.

She was pale and emaciated, so far removed from the strong, capable woman he knew, he hardly recognized her. Her breathing was shallow and weak, but as he gently stroked her cheek, her eyes lifted open just slightly, and again, he couldn't breathe.

"Milowi..."

Surprising him even more, the smallest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she, too, was breathless. "_Aurin..._"

All the worry of the past three days compounded in that moment, he began to break down again. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

But her weak smile remained. "_Shh_..."

He couldn't help but give a bittersweet laugh. She was only just clinging to life, but she was the one comforting him instead. She was still the same.

Without warning, though, her face contorted into a deep grimace followed by a sincere moan of pain.

"Milowi?"

Another intense moan, and he knew she was crashing, and quickly.

Stepping up beside him, Ri checked Milowi's pulse and was only just able to withhold her alarm. "Her heart's racing... We need to get her to a medical center immediately."

"Kirodai's still twenty minutes away," Lt. Wip announced reluctantly from the cockpit.

"That's not good enough!"

He felt Ri's hand heavily on his shoulder, a calming gesture, he guessed, but he frantically wracked his mind as Milowi suffered in front of him. There _had_ to be another option, something in between, someplace that could treat her...

"The Retreat," he blurted, looking up at Ri. "There's a fully-staffed medical wing there. We _have_ to take her there!"

Despite the numerous bloody wounds she bore all over her body that he hadn't noticed until just then, Ri didn't even blink as she confirmed the change of destination to Lt. Wip at the helm.

"Two minutes."


	25. Chapter 25

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_  
_6.0 APC_

It had only been a few precious hours since the most intense moments of life had transpired, and Major Jax still wasn't sure if it had all been real. His wife Milowi now slept peacefully in the Rys'tihn Retreat's medical wing, quickly treated for her crashing systems, and though the early morning light was slowly creeping into the dimly lit room, he hadn't slept, he hadn't moved a micron from his seat beside her bed, and nothing would make him.

The stress of her prolonged confinement had sent her heart into a frenzy after her rescue, but once the Retreat's medical staff had administered the right fluids and nutrients, replenishing her frail body, she stabilized almost immediately. He had stared at her in a surreal haze for so long since, so intently studying her every minute movement. The steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed mesmerized him easily as the silent moments passed, and though he knew she had to be so weak, so fatigued by the lengthy ordeal she'd miraculously survived, he still expected her to wake up at any moment. They'd be moving her to Dalon once they were sure she'd remain stable, which he assumed would be soon, as little as the medics had tended to her in the past hour.

As if hearing his thoughts, she slowly stirred, bringing him to his feet at her side. Closely leaning over her, he held her hand gently in his, keeping his voice low to avoid startling her as she woke.

"Sweetheart...you should be resting."

Her eyes fluttered slightly, only opening halfway, but it was her small sincere smile that put him at ease as she closed her hand around his. "I'm okay," she managed weakly, releasing a slow, contented breath. "I'll rest...you talk."

Her request surprised him. She had been held captive for two months, and that was what she wanted from him? He gave a short laugh as he searched her eyes. "You want me to talk? About what?"

"Anything," she breathed. "I just...need to hear your voice."

Moved by her words, he had to force any trace of shakiness from his response. "I don't have much to tell you," he began quietly. "I've been...recovering, too."

Milowi's expression fell as she realized what he meant. "...he hurt you?"

He nodded weakly. "They almost didn't get to me in time." Anticipating her next question, he answered it before she spoke again. "Tavyna was never harmed. My brother Eger's been taking care of her while we've been..." Overcome with emotion once more, he wavered, struggling to keep himself standing beside her. "It should've been me... Why didn't he take me?"

Saddened, Milowi briefly closed her eyes before she returned to him, squeezing his hand slightly. "He told me he was going to," she said, suddenly sounding slow and weak as she looked, "but in trying to escape him...I changed his mind for him."

"Milowi..."

"Listen," she continued with renewed strength, her eyes opening a bit more. "I wouldn't have had it...any other way, do you understand me? I was _trained_ for this, Aurin - "

"And so was I."

He held her gaze firmly, knowing just how equally their skills and abilities were matched. His career had taken him into leadership more than actual field work, but he had been taught how to withstand torture and interrogation just as she had. He could see in her eyes that she was well aware of that fact, but...her eyes...

The longer he studied them, the more he began to notice that...something was off. She was looking at him, but...she wasn't. There was no focus, no depth, no movement...

She was _sightless_.

"No..."

Unable to see his reaction, she was confused. "...Aurin?"

"No... No, you can't..."

The pain of understanding washed over her face, but she didn't seem...upset at her condition. "It's okay. I'll be okay."

He could hardly breathe. "No, it's not... Milowi, we have to get you to the Dalon Medical Center, the...the doctors could help..."

Surprising him, she seemed unsure again. "...where are we now?"

"The Rys'tihn Retreat," he somehow managed to answer. "We had to stop here, you were so critical..."

What little color she had regained in a few short hours of rest suddenly drained from her face. "Are the children still here?"

"I...I don't know, I think so..."

"Aurin...he could have followed you here," she continued, unable to keep a haunted tone out of her voice. "You need to get more guards...to those children..._right now_."

Still reeling from the realization, he looked up to the two Royal Guards who had been posted just inside the room. They understood his implied order, but as they depressed the panel to open the door...it clicked, and nothing moved.

They had been locked inside.

He fumbled in his pocket for his comlink to reach the other Elite Guard elsewhere in the Retreat, but it, too, remained silent.

Milowi didn't have to see it to know what had happened. "...it may be too late."

Though he had begun to panic, Milowi only gripped his hand more tightly as a determined expression set on her face.

"Bring me over to the door," she ordered with hushed intensity. "I can walk you through disabling the circuit manually."

Without any other ideas, he complied, quickly scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to their only way out.

* * *

Stepping into the hallway from the children's playroom, Garran very nearly bumped into Yhren Natiyr, startling them both and making him blush.

"Yhren!" he recovered quickly, having to reposition Dirani in his arms. "You're up early."

Yhren smiled kindly, patting Dirani on the back in apology. "You are, too." She looked to Garran's side, and only seeing Derek standing beside him, she furrowed her brows. "Where's Cordira?"

"We were on our way to find her, actually," he answered. "Kollie and Raen are already in the dining hall for breakfast. We'll check her favorite hiding spots as we go, if you want to join us."

Though she looked a little concerned for her niece, Yhren nodded and took up stride with them, holding Derek's hand as they continued through the halls. Glad to see her again and fond of their conversations, Garran tried to lighten her mood.

"Don't worry," he offered with a grin. "She probably thinks we're still playing the same game from yesterday."

"Maybe," Yhren returned distractedly, looking all about the hall with increasing anxiety. "Isn't it a little...quiet?"

Garran shrugged. "It's early. Most of the staff isn't here unless Koril and Elena are, and they've been...busy."

"I know, but..." She eventually slowed to a halt, gently hugging Derek to her leg protectively as she spoke at a whisper. "...where are the guards?"

Looking around and listening, as well, he was beginning to feel a cold chill through his spine, the same sensation that warned him before vandals broke into his home on Bakura months ago... Yhren was right. Something was amiss.

"Maybe we should...go back..."

Yhren nodded without hesitation, and just as she began to turn with him, something bright hit her in her back, sending her to the floor in sudden pain. In his shock, it took him almost too long to recognize that it had been a blaster bolt - and the Kel Dor was running at them from the opposite end of the long hallway.

_"Yhren!_ Yhren, get up!"

Reacting solely by reflex, Garran somehow managed to pull Yhren back onto her feet and simultaneously keep Dirani in his hold as he dragged them all around the corner with him. She was suffering, struggling to breathe in her agony, and he knew the four of them wouldn't last much longer against the Kel Dor. They had no weapons, no means of defending themselves from certain death, and there were no guards in sight to come to their aid. He desperately searched the hall for anything he could use to fight back, any kind of escape, but there was _nothing_...until he recognized which particular part of the Retreat they were in...and inspiration struck.

Reaching under his shirt collar, he tore his Rys'tihn Crest off his neck and slapped it to an almost unnoticeable depression in the wall. Though it seemed to take an eternity in his panic, the hidden door_ finally_ opened to the tunnel he had mistakenly explored when he had first arrived at the Retreat so long ago, triggered by his Crest he wasn't aware he'd had at the time. He now knew it hadn't been an accident that he'd found the secret tunnels the way he did...he was meant to. Ushering Derek and Dirani into it quickly, he helped Yhren down the first few steps, palming his Crest to her as he supported her by her good shoulder.

"You take this! You take this and you keep going down this tunnel until you can't go anymore, do you hear? Don't come back to the Retreat, you keep the kids safe! _Go!"_

Though she was rapidly losing the strength to breathe, she nodded strongly and stumbled the rest of the way down, making sure Derek and Dirani kept up with her. As he watched her disappear with them, he climbed back up into the hall and made sure the door sealed behind him. He still had nothing to combat the Kel Dor but himself...and he would do what he could.

Rounding the corner with blasters in hand, the Kel Dor came to a sudden stop, seeing only Garran in front of him. Unsure of his reaction, Garran merely stood his ground, breathing heavily from the adrenalin rush.

"Where are the others?" the Kel Dor demanded darkly, stepping towards him slowly with his blasters raised. Garran didn't move.

"What others? I'm the only one here."

"I know I hit one of you," he growled. "Where are those children!"

Emboldened with the knowledge that he had foiled the Kel Dor's plans, he almost grinned. "Maybe I made you see what I wanted you to see."

Standing just in front of him, Garran remained undeterred by the Kel Dor's powerful size. He no longer cared what would happen to him; the Rys'tihn children were safely stowed away in the tunnels, and elsewhere, Cordira could hide from her own family with little effort. Even as the Kel Dor sized him up and down, he didn't shy away.

"You are no Jedi, boy," he challenged as he holstered a blaster, freeing one of his hands. "But if you want to stand in my way like one...I'll dispose of you like the rest."

Before he could react, the Kel Dor swiftly grabbed Garran by the throat and lifted him into the air, holding him at arm's length as though he weighed nothing. His airway instantly closed, Garran struggled against him, pulling at his clawed hand to no avail. The Kel Dor's impossible grip tightened even more, and unable to draw fresh breath, Garran began to lose his strength. In his waning moments of life, he heard a familiar voice call his name, a voice he recognized at the last...as his father's.

* * *

"GARRAN!"

Cade felt his heart implode as the Kel Dor carelessly tossed his son's lifeless form to the ground, but he had little time to react as a punishing volley of blaster bolts came his way in response. He ducked behind a column for cover and drew his own blaster to return fire, but the Kel Dor persisted, relentless as he ran toward him, firing from both pistols, and turned down a connecting hallway. Cade hesitated a moment before moving from his cover, making sure he wouldn't be surprised, and though he wanted nothing more than to hold his only son, he had to follow the Kel Dor.

Carefully peering around the corner he'd taken, a bolt whizzed past his face, mere millimeters from landing the Kel Dor another kill. Angrier by the moment, Cade returned fire and sprinted down the hallway, determined to stop him. Blinded by his rage, though, he wildly turned another corner and took a hard, incapacitating strike across the jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor. He tucked into the fall, though, recovering enough to roll back up onto his feet with a blaster still in hand. Forcing the Kel Dor to retreat this time, he followed him with reciprocate blaster fire. Only an extra step ahead, Cade _almost_ had him, but somehow the Kel Dor turned and sealed a door between them, and Cade couldn't make it open for him.

"No!" he pounded furiously on the door, completely at a loss for its betrayal. He had total control over the entirety of the Retreat's security and systems, how could the Kel Dor have overwritten it!

Determining where the door led, Cade remembered an alternate route that would hopefully put him back on the Kel Dor's trail. He moved as quickly as he could, racing against the limited time he knew the Retreat's guests had left.

* * *

Though she had been treated for her injuries from the collapsing mine that night, Ri was still sore, rubbing her aching shoulders as she walked numbly down the hall from the room she'd gotten a few hours of sleep in. Her head was still pounding, but she could deal with it until they returned to Dalon with Milowi, which would hopefully be soon. She wanted something to eat before they left, so on her way to the dining hall for breakfast where she assumed everyone else would already be, she wasn't expecting to see Cordira running towards her, alone and positively frantic.

"Ri!" she cried, reaching out for her desperately. "Ri! Ri, help! Help, he's here!"

Embracing the girl as she clung to her in fear, Ri struggled to understand her. "What are you talking about, Cordira? What's wrong!"

But Cordira only continued to cry, tugging at Ri's shirt to pull her away. She was deathly afraid of something, and as Ri looked up the hallway where Cordira had come from, she saw a familiar form approaching that stole her breath.

"There's the one I've been looking for," the Kel Dor announced as he closed the distance, blaster in hand. "I didn't expect that I would see you again, though."

"Cordira, stay behind me," Ri instructed calmly as she tugged her lightsaber off her belt. "I'm not afraid of you. I fought you before, I can do it again."

"Perhaps you can," he agreed condescendingly, "but I'm more prepared this time. You won't be able to land that lightsaber blade on me, even if you were skilled enough to."

Initially confused by his statement, she looked him over and noticed the light armor he was now wearing. Would it actually repel her blade, or was he simply feigning invincibility to make her second guess herself? She couldn't afford to assume either, so she readied herself in a fighting stance, igniting her rose-bladed lightsaber for their confrontation.

"You're not taking this girl. You're not taking anyone again."

If he could have, Ri suspected he would have rolled his eyes. "It wasn't supposed to be this difficult. I had the perfect diversion arranged with that ship crash at the school, keeping all those Jedi occupied with their predictable rescue efforts. They practically hand delivered her to me, until you had to get in my way. I won't be nearly as merciful this time. Back down now, or I will kill you."

"Never."

Just as he raised his pistol to fire at her, a different round of fire sounded from behind him, halting him. He ducked and stepped behind a stone statue, firing in both directions. Ri was able to deflect the bolts from her and Cordira, and looking up the hall at the second shooter, she was surprised to see Cade Rys'tihn making his way toward them.

"Cordira, hide!" Ri told her as she covered her escape, much to the Kel Dor's surprise. Angered that he remained pinned down and that the girl was getting away from him again, he turned both his blasters on Ri, firing rapidly. Still sluggish from her mending wounds, she could only deflect every other bolt, and she knew she couldn't hold out forever. As she thought for sure she'd have to take even more injuries, the bolts stopped - Cade had tackled the Kel Dor to the ground from behind.

They fought fiercely with each other, trading a dozen kicks and punches, though the Kel Dor easily overpowered Cade after a number of severe swings. Before the Kel Dor could deliver one final blow, though, Ri saw an opportunity and took it, thrusting her lightsaber blade into a gap in the Kel Dor's armor at his knee.

Surprised, the Kel Dor roared in pain and swung wildly at her, striking her hard across the face. She landed against the wall as her lightsaber fell from her hand and clicked off. Though she desperately tried to keep her balance in case she had to fend off a second attack from the Kel Dor, another blaster bolt echoed through the hallway, and the Kel Dor cried out in agony again.

Cade had blasted through the Kel Dor's _other_ knee.

Felled and weaponless as Cade kicked his blasters away, the Kel Dor lay on the ground in defeat, no longer able to work his legs. Cade stood over him, breathless from the exertion, but the rage and pain in his eyes was unexpected. He held his blaster on the Kel Dor, and just as he moved to fire, intent on killing him, Ri had to stop him.

"Cade! We need him alive so we can find out who's after Cordira."

Trembling with fury, Cade only stood down when a company of Royal Guards _finally_ arrived, flooding the hallway as they quickly took over and apprehended their prisoner. Without a word to anyone, Cade turned and took off at a dead sprint, leaving Ri in dumbfounded shock as to what all had just happened.


	26. Chapter 26

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains_  
_Rys'tihn Retreat_  
_6.0 APC_

The sickening feeling that it had all happened before nearly paralyzed Elena as she and Koril moved through the Retreat with a dozen Royal Guards surrounding them. She could sense their children were alive and okay, but she needed to find them, and she needed to find them _now_.

Mechanics and engineers were still opening doors that had been sealed shut in the sudden chaos, adding to her anxiety that was already through the roof. How had this _happened_? The Kel Dor had once again violated their sense of security, and even though he was now in custody, she still couldn't believe how it had gone down, another shootout in the Retreat that was supposed to be their safe haven from the galaxy.

They came upon a number of executed Royal Guards in one hallway, painfully tearing at her heart as she looked on each one. There were no signs of the children, though, so they moved on, but she was in no way prepared for the next scene they came upon...

At the corner of the next corridor, she saw Cade knelt on the ground...cradling his son Garran in his arms. The deep, unadulterated anguish on Cade's face was telling enough for her, and somehow walking over to them, she sank to her knees in front of him, already shedding bitter, mournful tears that landed atop her round belly.

"_Garran_..."

The Rys'tihn Ghost Heir spoke without tone. "He's stopped breathing..."

Though they'd only known the teen for a few precious months, he had quickly been assumed into their family, becoming an older brother of sorts to their children. He had only just learned of his heritage as a Royal of Paneau, giving him a taste of the life he'd been denied for seventeen years as an exile. His youthful enthusiasm and pure, kind heart had endeared him to Elena, and looking on his lifeless body, she couldn't stay her sorrow. She gently stroked his cheek, and studying his face, she listened with the Force, and...she heard...

"But...his heart's still beating..."

Blinking away her tears, she looked up at Cade in alarm. "Lay him down!"

Numbly complying, Cade settled Garran onto the floor, and Elena carefully felt around the teen's throat, assessing the damage. "His airway's been crushed..."

Cade nodded weakly. "The Kel Dor strangled him."

With gentle pressure at the back of his neck, Elena delicately placed her other hand atop his throat, swiftly calling on the Force to heal and reopen his airway...

Sudden gasping noises from him were amazing, welcome relief, but as Garran began to come around, he became almost combative, looking around wildly and terrified that he couldn't breathe.

"Garran! Garran, relax, I'm trying to open your throat!"

But he continued to struggle, desperately fighting to draw in another breath. Without it, he was slowly blacking out, but Elena continued working, determined to at least get him breathing easier. He was nearly still again when he took in two large, choking breaths, and beginning the battle once more, Elena realized he could strangely breathe better while unconscious.

"Garran, listen to me, okay? I'm going to put you into a light sleep. You'll breathe easier, and I'll be able to repair your throat more quickly." He still looked so scared as he locked gazes with his father beside him, so she continued. "Look at me, Garran, listen. I _promise_ you that you will wake up again. We'll be with you the whole time, okay? Let me do this for you."

Though he still was straining for good breath and panicking, Garran looked to Cade again, and the elder Rys'tihn nodded to him, taking up his hand at his side.

"It'll be okay, Son."

With his father's comfort, Garran finally relented and agreed. Elena wasted little time, putting him under the trance, and as Garran's eyes slowly closed once more, he could breathe just fine. Cade stared in disbelief.

"His panicking made his muscles tense up and it closed his throat even more," Elena explained, breathless herself as she continued healing. Meeting his gaze, she spoke with calm confidence. "He'll be alright, Cade."

Still holding Garran's hand tightly in his grip, Cade nodded, looking exhausted and spent as she'd never seen him before. However, she knew well the expression on his face; she couldn't leave Garran, either.

"Koril," she turned back to him standing behind her, "I have to stay with him. Go find the children, hurry."

Though he, too, seemed distraught at Garran's condition, Koril nodded, quickly assigning a number of guards to stay with them as he left with Swip and the rest.

* * *

"High Commander, we've reopened and searched every room," Major Tidesetter reported to him quietly. "Still no sign of them."

Standing in the Retreat's main atrium flanked by a dozen guards, Koril looked around in thought to contain his escalating worry. "They're here, I _know_ they are." He was somehow able to sense his children nearby in his fleeting mental clarity, and realizing that the Royal Guard hadn't yet searched the entirety of the Retreat, he looked to Swip standing beside him.

"Lieutenant, with me," he ordered shortly, leading him and his men to the one place he knew they hadn't looked.

Pressing his Crest to a nondescript wall, he stepped inside the new door it revealed, making sure his officers kept up as he descended the dim stairs. With his blaster drawn, he slowed to a stop and listened intently for any sound, but none came. They _had_ to be here, they knew nowhere else to hide...

"Derek?" he carefully called down the long, echoing corridor, his voice trembling. "Dirani?"

The tunnel remained silent for a long, tense moment, freezing his breath in his chest, until...

"Daddy?"

Far ahead, he saw Derek's small form timidly step out of the darkness, and Koril could feel his legs trying to give out underneath him in his relief. Willing them forward, though, he ran to the boy, scooping him up into his hold protectively as Dirani clung to him, too.

"Are you two okay?" he asked, frantically looking them over. "Are you hurt?"

Dirani only tightened her hold on his arm, but they both looked fine, no wounds anywhere...

"Yhren!"

Looking up from his children, Koril hadn't expected to see Yhren crumpled against the wall in a recessed alcove, and it took him a moment longer to realize what Swip had already seen as the lieutenant swiftly stepped over to her - she had been gravely wounded.

"Blaster bolt," Swip reported as he carefully assessed her. "Back right shoulder."

The other guards that had accompanied them also moved to assist, but Swip had managed to gently gather her into his arms without causing her further pain and stand with her before they could do much. She wasn't fully alert, weak and only barely able to breathe with one badly damaged lung, but Koril could see that at least with her good hand, she had a tight grip on Swip's uniform as he held her, trusting him to care for her. Knowing that she needed to be treated by the most skillful of Healers, all of which were in Dalon, Koril hoisted both Derek and Dirani into his hold, nodding to his guards to escort them back to the _Celestia_ upstairs.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Dalon Medical Center_

As Yhren slowly woke, she flexed her right hand, testing its strength...and was surprised to feel someone else's hand holding hers. Her eyes were sluggish in responding, but finally able to see her visitor, she smiled contentedly at Lt. Saross Wip sitting beside her. Not entirely the fault of fatigue from her injury, she felt her heart flutter as he returned the smile, and she struggled to find her voice.

"I hoped it'd be you I'd wake up to."

He blushed the slightest bit, she could tell, seemingly caught off guard by her forwardness. He recovered quickly, though. "I'm very glad to see you awake. Are you feeling alright?"

"I am," she nodded, though she wasn't entirely sure. "...I think."

Amused at her amendment, he laughed lightly. "You think?"

She shrugged, glad it didn't cause her any discomfort. "I've never been hurt like that before..."

His hand tightened around hers ever so gently. "Then I'm glad I didn't let you wake up alone."

Silently thankful that she didn't have any pulse monitors audibly announcing her accelerating heart rate to him, she released a slow breath as her smile broadened, enjoying his attention and subtle affection. He was such a gentleman, keeping her company though he didn't have to. The more she thought about it, though, the more she realized...that he shouldn't have _had_ to. Her mother and her brother were both there at the same medical center, and they would've been with her, unless...

He read her falling expression. "They delivered the twin girls about an hour ago, and they're doing...as well as can be expected." The news relieved her greatly, but when he said nothing of her sister-in-law...she knew he couldn't tell her anything good. Her mouth went dry, and suddenly restless, she began to move despite her lingering weakness.

"I should be with him," she spoke softly, and surprising her, Saross didn't protest.

"I'll help you."

Grateful for his assistance, she numbly stood from her bed, still holding his hand as she tested her legs. They shook underneath her, both from fatigue and from her rising emotional distress, and she felt like they would give way at any moment. Before she could control it, her whole body began trembling, nearly reducing her to her knees. Just when she felt herself breaking down entirely, Saross pulled her into a warm, comforting embrace with care, and she no longer had to support herself alone. She rested her head on his chest, only allowing a few tears to fall before she took in and released a number of deep breaths. Drawing on the renewed strength his touch gave her, she swallowed hard and nodded as she eased from his hold, determined to be Rech's support in his unthinkable loss.

Holding tightly to Saross's arm as they walked to Mand's room together, she hardly noticed anyone they passed, trying to prepare herself for her brother's desolate state. His wife of more than six years, his soul mate, had completed him so well, so fully, Yhren wasn't sure that he could physically survive without her any longer. He'd thought her lost once before when she had suddenly blocked her presence from him, and Elena said he had collapsed the instant he felt Mand "die"; how much more devastated he had to be now, unable to save her at the very last after such a long, arduous battle fought to carry her twins to birth...

As they stood before the silent room, Yhren hesitated a moment, looking to Master Kanomin who also remained in the hallway. The petite Jedi Master wore a sullen, weary expression, her eyes red with grief. She, too, had battled with Rech to help Mand, and she let go of a resigned sigh as she glanced into the room, updating the two.

"They delivered the twins when Mand's heart stopped," she explained with an uncharacteristic quaver in her voice. "They hoped that without the added stress of the two struggling girls, Mand's systems might be able to recover...but they couldn't get her heart started again. The doctors...stopped their efforts...about forty-five minutes ago, but Rech...Rech won't let them take her."

Moved with emotion once more, Yhren leaned against Saross for support, momentarily unsure if she would have the stamina to move forward. She felt him place a light, delicate kiss atop her head, and looking to Master Kanomin again, she took another step...

"Be careful," Master Kanomin warned, and heeding it with a nod, Yhren continued inside, leaving Saross's hold to approach her brother alone.

Rech sat beside Mand in a mess of resuscitation equipment and monitors, with wires and used needles and tools strewn about in the aftermath of chaos. With his eyes closed, he held her hand in earnest, motionless save for his own weak, shallow breathing. He was pale and sweating, a side effect of his prolonged efforts, she reasoned, and though she knew he had to have heard her stepping into the room, he gave no indication of acknowledging her presence. She had to speak first.

"Rech..."

"Don't," he returned immediately, breathless. "She is _not_ gone. She is still here, I can _feel_ it."

Her tears threatened to choke her. "Look, I know how much you want to believe that..."

"I _know_ it. I can still sense her. She's just..._lost_... But I can find her. I can bring her back. I just need to...focus..."

"Rech, please..."

"I can find her," he repeated, as if trying to convince himself. "Just let me... I need to find her."

He was even more far gone than she had anticipated. While desperately searching for the right words to bring him to his senses, someone else stepped into the room behind her and spoke up instead.

"Use me."

She turned to see Koril approaching them slowly, and looking back to her brother, she was surprised to see his eyes opened, fixed on Koril with a dark, challenging glare.

"Why would I?"

Undeterred by Rech's reaction, Koril continued with a penitent tone. "A few months ago, I was able to reach my sister on Coruscant...while I was here. I know we have a stronger bond than most, but...I think it's my Force skill, what I'm best able to do with my abilities. If you can work through me, amplify my limited range...maybe I can help you find her."

Rech's expression remained unchanged, prompting Koril to add another offer. "Whatever you need, however you need it from me...I will give it."

Taken aback by the finality of his statement, Yhren looked to him with concern. "Koril..."

But he was resolved to it. "I'm not afraid."

Though she was completely confused by the exchange, she returned to Rech to talk him down further, but he had stood from his seat and was looking expectantly at Koril.

"Sit down," he ordered shortly, and as Koril complied, Yhren could only look back and forth between them, speechless and unsure how to stop what was about to happen.

Placing a heavy hand on Koril's shoulder and holding Mand's hand in his other, he closed his eyes to concentrate, and Koril did the same. Before long, they were both completely motionless, even seeming to go long periods between breathing, which concerned her even more. Anxious moments became even lengthier minutes, and as she heard Saross stepping up behind her, she saw Rech's brows tense into a confounded furrow. Were they actually accomplishing something?

"...Rech?"

She didn't expect him to answer, but eventually, he did. "Someone's trying to...fight us...trying to take her away." A deeper, more earnest furrow formed on his face. _"Fight back..."_

Another tense minute passed, but this time, the movement came from Koril. His head weakly rolled back, but still held in place by Rech's hand, he was motionless once again. She watched him carefully, and...

"He's not breathing."

Sprinting over to Koril's side, she confirmed what she had seen from across the room. She yanked on Rech's arm in a panic; his hand didn't budge from Koril's shoulder. _"Rech!_ Rech, you have to stop this, _right now!"_

"I can't, he has to." A sudden, distant tone in his voice was almost haunting. "Come on, Koril, you have to _fight_ him... Fight harder!"

A choking, spurt of air from the back of Koril's throat was his only response. Though he made no outward movement or struggle, it sounded as if he were being strangled, as if someone was constricting his airway, but...how was that even possible?

"Saross, get Master Kanomin in here!"

She heard him leave and return just as quickly, and as he and Master Kanomin swept up to the group, none of them could react fast enough as Rech suddenly collapsed to the floor and Koril slumped forward in his seat. Saross and Master Kanomin were at least able to keep Koril from falling, as well, leaving Yhren to tend to her brother.

"Rech!" she called to him repeatedly, brushing his messy, sweat-matted hair from his forehead. His eyes were rolled up into his head, and he was breathing heavily from serious exertion. Slowly recovering, though, he finally focused on her face as she hovered over him, albeit briefly. Back to his senses, he looked past her at Koril who was still taking in deep, desperate breaths, too, and their gazes locked.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

A complete shift in tone, Rech's voice was only full of genuine regret. Koril looked mortified.

"I had no idea," he answered Rech hoarsely in between gasps. "I _swear..._I didn't know."

"You didn't know what?" Getting no response from Koril, Yhren returned to her brother. "Rech, what just happened!"

Recovered enough, Rech slowly picked himself up off the ground with Yhren's help, having to hold the edge of Mand's bed for support as he stood. As he spoke, he looked like he didn't even believe his own words. "Morden Tarthos...Mand's father. She...she killed him, several years ago, but he..."

"...he tried to take her with him."

Though still sitting with Master Kanomin's healing hand on his shoulder, Koril remained pale, his expression still so haunted as he finished what Rech couldn't. Yhren didn't understand, but it seemed that the two of them were still working through it themselves.

"How?" Rech asked simply, but Koril stared at the floor in thought for some time, unable to answer him, until...

"I was holding my sister as she died three years ago," he explained slowly, piecing it together. "I didn't know what I was doing, I just knew I couldn't let her go... Something happened, and I...Elena said my spirit was...gone. But when I woke up...I had all those voices in my head."

A look of understanding rolled across Rech's face. "You were vulnerable..."

Koril swallowed. "They _always _went away when I was with Elena, or when you or Mand physically touched me."

"He feared us," Rech concluded quietly. "He knew how powerful we were. He knew we'd be able to stop him - "

"But I was weak," Koril interjected, "all this time..."

"No, Koril... You held him _at bay_ all this time." Surprising Yhren, Rech's voice wavered with emotion. "I should've seen it... I should've known...that it wasn't you.

"I'm sorry, Koril... I let you down."

But Koril only shook his head. "No, Rech, I - "

"I never should have doubted you as a friend. Please...accept my apology."

Though he still looked as remorseful as Rech, Koril finally nodded and extended his hand to Rech. As Koril stood, they engaged a slow, steady handshake, friends once more.

"_It's about time you listened to me..."_

In disbelief, Yhren turned to Mand in the center of the room to see her eyes open halfway and her chest rise and fall with a weak breath. Instantly at her side again, Rech couldn't hide his euphoria.

"Mand!"

She gave him a small smile, her words slow and hardly audible. "_I knew you'd figure it out... I'm so proud of you both."_

Rech choked back a sob. "You knew?"

"_I protected the twins from him... I knew he'd come after them. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. You had to do it on your own. And you did."_

He laughed in spite of himself. "Barely."

"_I had faith in you. In both of you." _Her strength rapidly waning, she let go of a weak sigh. "_Are the girls okay?"_

Tears freely falling, he nodded. "They're beautiful."

Her eyes slowly closed as she stilled. "_I'll see them soon."_

Though still in complete disbelief, Rech blinked his eyes clear after a moment, and with a calm, even tone, he made a request that would have sounded ridiculous mere minutes earlier.

"Get the critical care team back in here. We still have work to do."

In total shock herself, the only thing Yhren could feel, the only thing she knew for certain was real, was Saross's hand tightly holding hers at her side.


	27. Chapter 27

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon__  
__Dalon Medical Center_  
_6.0 APC_

Though Garran had been awake for almost an hour, he had been alone in his room the entire time. He had considered getting the attention of the medical staff passing by in the hall, but they seemed so busy. He didn't want to bother them needlessly; except for slight fatigue, he felt alright. He was comfortable in his bed, he wasn't hungry or thirsty, so he remained quiet, left to wonder how he had cheated death, and what had become of the children...and the Kel Dor.

His father had to have confronted the Kel Dor, since his was the last voice he had heard before blacking out, but Cade had been at Garran's side as he woke up with Elena's help. Had Cade defeated the mercenary? Had he been wounded, too? How had the Kel Dor even been able to get into the Rys'tihn Retreat? So many questions were swirling through his head, he was beginning to get a headache thinking about it all. He closed his eyes briefly to calm himself, but he must have fallen back asleep at some point. Before he had noticed much time passing, he heard a soft voice beside him, waking him from his light slumber.

"Garran?"

He took in a slow breath as he opened his eyes to his visitor, and seeing Elena seated calmly beside him, he smiled at her, much to her relief.

"Elena..."

Not expecting his voice to sound so terribly hoarse and gruff, his expression immediately fell as he reached up and massaged his throat. It didn't hurt, but he sounded awful...

"Your doctors said there's some residual swelling," Elena was quick to soothe, "but it'll go down on its own. Unless it's hurting you..."

Garran shook his head. "I sound a lot worse than I feel."

She smiled at him again, brushing her hand against his cheek affectionately. It was a gesture his mother had been fond of in his youth, but to keep himself from getting lost in memories of her, he realized there was someone else's attention he craved, someone he expected to walk into the room behind Elena, as he had promised...

Elena was able to read his gaze. "He had to leave, Garran... I'm sorry. It's too public here, especially after all that's happened."

Though he tried to hide his disappointment, he knew she had seen it on his face. Still, he nodded, moving on to the other questions he had. "How did the Kel Dor get into the Retreat?"

She sighed, almost reluctant to answer. "He held onto the outside of the shuttle as it left the abandoned factory where they rescued Milowi. She was so critical after her rescue, she had to be treated almost immediately. They didn't know it, but...they brought him exactly where he wanted to go."

"Are the children okay?"

"Yes," she smiled once more, "they're just fine, thanks to you. Even Cordira."

"And Yhren?"

"She's...mending. She had to help her brother before she was completely healed, so she's had to rest a little more." She paused a moment as a strange expression rolled over her face and her eyes glistened, her voice quavering as she continued softly. "She told us what you did, Garran, hiding them in the tunnel... That was so...brilliant, and brave of you... I don't know how to thank you."

Believing himself unworthy of her praise, he simply shrugged. "I just...reacted. It was a reflex. All I knew was I had to protect the kids. Everything else just...happened."

Surprising him, she laughed lightly as she shook her head. "You are definitely your father's son." She took in and released a slow breath, gently rubbing her large belly in a moment of thought before she returned to him. "There's...someone else who'd like to see you. Do you feel up to another visitor?"

Unsure who else it could be since his father wasn't able to stay, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Still so appreciative, she stood from her seat and carefully leaned over him, giving him a light kiss at his temple to further express her thanks. "I'll be just down the hall."

He watched her leave, amazed at how large her stomach really was compared to her petite frame. She had to be close to delivering her third child, but still she checked on him, worried for him as one of her own children...

Hearing footsteps echoing into his room, he turned to see his new guest...only he wasn't sure who exactly was standing beside him. It was a woman, he could tell that much, but a hooded cloak hid her identity until she pulled it back. Her short, spiky black hair threw him off, but the longer he studied her pale, gaunt face...he realized he knew her. He could hardly breathe in his shock.

"_Dee_!"

His closest friend and cousin he hadn't seen for months smiled broadly back at him, quickly pulling him into a generous embrace as he sat up in his bed. He held her back tightly, afraid she might disappear if he let go. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Pulling back from him, she brushed a stray tear from her cheek as she laughed. "After I heard what you did for my niece and nephew...I had to come and thank you myself. And scold you," she teased. "When I sent you here, I never told you to take over my job."

Garran had to laugh, too. "I guess it's just in our genes."

Deilia shook her head at him, still grinning from ear to ear. She had begun to say something more, but he spoke up first.

"So are you home? Do you get to stay?"

As her expression slowly fell...he already knew the answer before she responded.

"No, Garran, I...I can't stay. I'm not even supposed to be here. See? I had to change my look so no one would recognize me." She weakly gripped a handful of her short hair, normally long and blond, still seemingly unused to its new style. Looking at him apologetically, she gave him a faint smile. "But I had to come see you, even if it's just for a short time. You deserve that much."

Defeated, Garran sank back down onto his bed, struggling to accept her fate. Though it had been brewing in his mind for some time, he never thought he'd actually get the chance to act on it...

"Then I want to go with you."

Stunned, Deilia blinked. "What? Why? Why would you want to leave? You can have anything you want here."

But he had prepared his arguments well. "It's not that I've been treated poorly here, but the very opposite. Koril and Elena have been nothing but kind and gracious to me, but... I've never really felt that I belonged. It's like everyone tiptoes around me, and I guess I understand why, but...I'm just so out of place here."

Sympathetic, she carefully sat on his bed just beside him. "Garran, it's something you get used to over time. You're still acclimating to everything, to everyone. It's not going to happen overnight."

He continued, undaunted. "There are too many people here."

Looking more worried for him, she picked up his hand and held it between both of hers on her lap. "Listen...I know you've been through a lot of changes these past few months. You've been exposed to things that you never knew growing up. But this... Garran, _this_ is the life you were supposed to have. This is the life your mother was denied."

He couldn't tell her she was wrong, but he had already made up his mind. "I think I did well enough without it all these years, don't you?" He didn't expect her to answer, and she didn't. "Dee, I _want_ to go with you. I promised you I would. And I owe it to you."

Confused, she shook her head. "You don't owe me, Garran. If anything, I am the one in _your_ debt. You saved me from that fire."

He could only partially remember that day, and he still wasn't sure how he had been able to drag her unconscious body the entire way up the hill from his burning home completely on his own. He felt tired just thinking about the exertion it had to have taken, though he had no recollection of any fatigue after the ordeal.

"It's not enough."

Deilia watched him closely. "What do you mean?"

He took in and released a careful breath, swallowing to hopefully soothe his rough voice. "Dee...you were a friend to me when I was _absolutely_ certain...that no one else in this galaxy knew or cared about me. There's no way I can repay that...but I want to try. I told you, wherever you go, I go, until you can come home."

Dumbfounded, she could only stare at him as she struggled to find her voice again. "Garran, it's not that simple..."

"Yes, it is."

Her gaze hardened, determined to change his mind. "I am always on the move. I can't stay in one place for very long."

He shrugged. "I was in the same place for seventeen years too long. I need to explore, see what I've missed."

"I am always isolated," she continued, her voice shaking just slightly. "It is a solitary, lonely existence."

"I know." With as much emotion and pleading as he could force through his ragged vocal chords, he went on. "Deilia...I wasn't aware of it until recently, but I have been an exile _all my life_. I learned that my mother chose that for me, for us. And even in our exile...she was never alone. She always had me." Already holding her hand, he tightened his grip, lightly emphasizing his words. "You don't _deserve_ to be alone, Deilia. Please...let me be there for you, like you were for me."

With her expression softening by the moment, she released a trembling sigh, biting her lower lip as she thought. He waited patiently for what felt like minutes, imploring her as he held her gaze until she finally spoke.

"Okay," she answered softly, "but...only under one condition."

Relieved, he nodded enthusiastically. "Anything."

"You have to say goodbye to your father...properly." She gave a bitter laugh, rolling her eyes slightly at herself. "He may never speak to me after this, taking you away from him again."

Garran grinned. "I'll talk to him. And I'll make sure he knows...that it was my choice."

Her expression fell once more as she shook her head. "I'm afraid that might make it harder on him..."

Understanding what she meant, he nodded sadly. His mother had done the same thing to Cade more than eighteen years prior, choosing to leave him in the same manner.

Still, Deilia smiled fondly as she stood from his side, still grasping his hand. "I'll come back for you in a few weeks. Hopefully I won't change my mind between now and then."

"I won't let you."

She shook her head with a short laugh, knowing how evenly their stubbornness was matched. She squeezed his hand one last time and released it, pulling her hood back over her head as she quickly left his room. He watched her go sadly, wishing he could leave with her then, but he knew he still had some mending to do. With such a tremendous weight lifted from his shoulders, he sighed happily and returned to a light sleep.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Jax Residence_  
_6.1 APC_

Before Koril had even made it to the front step of the Jaxes' home, the door swept open, and Major Jax stood just beyond it in anticipation of his guest. What Koril didn't expect, though, was the completely blank expression on his cousin's face. It had been several weeks since they'd seen each other; Koril had ordered the major to take time off to recuperate and care for his family for a month at the very least. Though he knew it would drive Major Jax crazy, being forced to relinquish his duties at the Rys'tihn Manor, Koril had insisted. Surely Jax wasn't still upset with him, was he?

"Major," he addressed him with a curt nod, hoping to get a response out of him. When Jax remained silent, his left hand in a fist and trembling at his side, Koril arched his eyebrows with a cautious expression. "May I come in?"

Major Jax remained stoic, hardly seeming to breathe for long, tense moments before he snapped himself out of his stupor, nodding slightly and stepping aside to invite the High Commander into his home. With a quick wave of his hand to stay his Royal Guard escorts outside, Koril entered alone and followed Jax's lead. The major brought him to a spacious, humble living room, where Milowi was comfortably reclined on a lounge chair. At first she appeared asleep, breathing slowly and deeply, but the sound of their footsteps must have woken her. She raised her head and smiled wanly in greeting, awaiting an introduction as her sightless eyes searched in their general direction. Her smile began to fade with the passing silent moments, prompting Koril to speak up in Jax's stead.

"Hello, Milowi."

Her smile returned. "High Commander. Please, come in, have a seat, Sir."

"Thank you," he accepted kindly, stepping over to a couch just beside her. Expecting Jax to follow him, he looked back to him when he heard no footsteps behind him. Jax's blank expression had returned, and before Koril could speak, Jax suddenly turned squarely on his heel and left.

"I'll be outside."

Surprised by his curt exit, Koril immediately looked to Milowi just as her face turned pale in pain and embarrassment. He slowly sat beside her, unsure how to comfort her.

"Please," she began softly, "...forgive my husband. He's taken the reality of my...condition...very hard. He blames himself."

Koril took in and released a deep breath, saddened by her explanation. "I think he blames me, as well."

She didn't deny it, but his suspicion furthered her sorrow. "He's been getting better."

Somehow, Koril was able to keep the incredulous tone out of his voice. "That was...'better'?"

"Had you come here a few days ago...he wouldn't have even answered the door."

Understanding the major's state of mind, Koril leaned forward, supporting himself on his knees with his elbows as he stared at the floor between his feet. "Honestly...if I were in his place, I think I'd be the exact same way."

At that, Milowi finally smiled once more. "Sometimes I forget just how closely you two are related."

Glad to see her spirits lifted, he smiled, too, and continued onto the reason for his visit. "How are you doing, Milowi?"

"I'm alright, Sir," she answered appreciatively. "I'm still very...tired, and my stamina isn't anywhere near where it used to be. It's not coming back to me fast enough for my liking, either."

He suppressed a laugh. "I know that feeling very, very well."

She nodded with a small smile. "I remember."

Refusing to dwell on his own past, he returned his attention to her, keeping his voice quiet. "I know you've been recovering these past few weeks... Are you _okay_?"

Finally understanding that he wasn't concerned about her physical well being, her posture sagged the slightest bit as she rested her head back against the pillow behind her. She still had her face turned toward him, though, so he could read her resigned expression as she thought through her response before speaking.

"Sir...I had somewhere close to three weeks...to come to terms with the loss of my sight. I went through all the stages, and thankfully I was mostly alone through them all. At first, I was sure that he had just blocked out all the light to trick me into thinking I was blind as part of my...torture... Then came the anger, the desire to bargain with my captor...the depression... Eventually I decided that there was no way I was going to leave that room alive. I knew there was only so much of that electric current my body could survive before everything shut down, not just my vision.

"So when I heard that Elite Guard team as they found me in the mine," she continued, tears slowly forming in her eyes, "...I'd never been so happy to be half alive. I was hardly conscious," she laughed lightly, "but I knew I'd be okay. Sure, it's been a difficult transition, for us all, but...I can live with it." Pausing a moment, she seemed to be struggling to summon the strength to continue. "I get to _hear_ my daughter's laugh again. I get to _feel_ the warmth of my husband's touch again. I get to _be_ with my family again, and I will always be nothing but grateful for that.

"I don't regret what happened to me, Sir, at all. I want you to know that. Aurin thinks he should have been the one the Kel Dor took. But when I swore my oath of loyalty to the Rys'tihn Royal Family, we both knew what dangers I had the potential to face in the field. He was made very much aware what might happen to me, but what he's seemingly forgotten is the fact that I was specifically trained for these situations. Interrogation, manipulation, torture... I was the best, and the worst, target the Kel Dor could've taken. I'm _glad_ he chose me as his target. Anyone else might not have survived."

Moved deeply by her confession, Koril could hardly speak himself. "What can I do to help you, Milowi? How can I make it easier for you and your family?"

Genuinely taken aback by his question, she fumbled for an answer. "Really, Sir, we're okay... We've just been adjusting."

"How about a nav droid to help you during the day? When Tavyna returns to school and Major Jax comes back to the Manor - "

"High Commander," she interrupted with a kind smile, "...it's _okay."_

Determined, he sighed lightly. "There has to be something I can do, Milowi, _please._ You know I won't leave you alone until you let me help somehow."

Shaking her head with a resigned laugh, she gave in. "Alright. There is _one_ thing that I need."

"Name it."

She drew in a slow breath, closing her eyes briefly. "Obviously there's no way I can continue to serve your family as a covert agent in the field. But, that does not mean that I forfeit my oath entirely. There's still a way that I can be involved. If you can put me in touch with the instructors of the next class of agents...I can share everything that I know. I can teach my replacement all the skills and techniques they need to do a better job than I did."

"Milowi..."

"I don't have to be able to see to pass on my knowledge to those who need it now. This is the one thing I will allow you to do for me, so please...let me share what I can."

Though still reluctant, he sighed after a moment and nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to Cade and get those instructors to contact you. In the mean time, you focus on resting and getting your energy back. I can tell you from experience...it takes a lot of patience. Just when you think you don't have any left...your family gives you just enough to keep going."

Appreciating his advice, she smiled and weakly extended her hand to him to shake his. An absurd gesture, he thought, and instead, he stood and delicately held her hand in both of his, which broadened her smile even more.

"Thank you, Sir, for coming to visit. It means a lot to me. And I know it means a lot to Aurin, too, he just...has a hard time expressing it right now."

"You let me know if I need to have a talk with him."

Surprising him, Milowi laughed as if he had told her a bad joke. "Would _you_ listen to one of your officers telling you to shape up?"

He had to laugh, too. "I guess you're right."

Still smiling, she released a slow breath, fatigued from their lengthy discussion. "He'll come around."

He didn't doubt it. "Take care, Milowi. We'll talk again soon."

Easing her arm back down to her, he released her hand and quietly left. Through the front window, he watched from the back of his landspeeder as Major Jax returned to his wife's side in their living room. As Koril signaled to his guards to leave for the Manor, he saw Jax carefully drape a blanket over Milowi as she slept, his left hand trembling even more.


	28. Chapter 28

_Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains  
Rys'tihn Retreat  
6.1 APC  
_

Fighting a lingering headache, Cade sat at a table in the Retreat's main banquet hall, alone as he usually was. His nephew's family and his accompanying staff had all returned to the Manor in Dalon, relieved to finally be rid of the Kel Dor threat. It left the Retreat once again as Cade's safe haven for solitary reflection, the one place where he remembered that he actually belonged to a royal family, where he felt normal and not like the secret outcast he was born to be. The burden he bore as the Rys'tihn Master Ghost Heir was rapidly taking its toll on him, as his broken but mending ribs reminded him with every aching breath.

As much as he tried to keep it at bay, he couldn't prevent his thoughts from returning to that terrible encounter he had only barely managed to survive. He had gone over every detail of the events leading up to it that he could think of, desperate to figure out how the Kel Dor had bested their security so handily, but it only left him with more questions.

And more guilt.

The Royal Guards who had perished at the Kel Dor's hand had been Cade's charge; though they willingly protected the Retreat's guests, Cade was supposed to have been their first line of defense, but he had failed them, just as he had so very nearly failed his son...

It had been more than a month, but even just a brief flash of the memory, of holding Garran's lifeless body in his arms, still pained him deeply. Of course, Garran had survived thanks to Elena's quick work, but the raw emotion of that moment had brought back all the shame, the longing, the lifelong regret he had buried after Solienne had left Paneau with their son more than eighteen years ago. He had just gotten Garran back, sent home to him by Deilia, and the Kel Dor had tried to take him away again. He didn't think he could handle another loss.

With his rising anxiety, he rubbed his forehead to ease his worsening headache. He still suffered from the injuries he had sustained in his brawl with the Kel Dor, refusing more treatment than what help he had already received. The physical pain was a welcome distraction from his heartache, he feebly reasoned, even though he knew how ridiculous it sounded.

Another distraction came in the form of approaching footsteps, suddenly removing him from his thoughts. As he looked up to his new visitor, he stood immediately, not caring that his headache intensified with his swift movement. He could hardly breathe.

"Garran..."

His son gave him a small, cautious smile as they met, but it didn't put Cade at ease at all. He could already tell there was a reason Garran had sought him out, and as the boy's expression fell before he spoke, Cade could feel his legs about to give out underneath him.

"I'm leaving."

Those two words had stopped his heart just the same so many years ago, when Solienne had decided to accept exile in Cade's place. There was no way Garran could have known that, nor could he have intentionally been so cold. Cade knew Garran had his mother's gentle nature, her warm heart; he had seen that much as his son cared for Koril and Elena's children over the past few months. But this situation was so far removed from what had motivated Solienne's choice, all Cade could think to ask was...

"...why?"

For some reason, Garran looked momentarily surprised at the question, as though he had expected a different reaction entirely. He took a few breaths, slowly working up the courage to answer.

"It's not that I..._want_...to leave Paneau, leave you," he managed with a shaky voice. "But I owe it to Deilia. I won't...I _refuse _to let her suffer exile alone. When she can come back home...so will I."

It wasn't so dissimilar after all. The words were already leaving Cade's mouth before he realized what he was saying.

"You sound just like your mother..."

A brief twinge of pain and uncertainty registered in Garran's eyes, and it was with that small glimpse of fear that Cade understood what Garran had expected from him: an ultimatum.

"I won't stop you," Cade answered, the weakness in his voice a subtle indication of his reluctant resignation. "It's your choice." Against his better judgment, he added, "...just as it was hers."

Appreciative and relieved, Garran let go of a long, weary sigh, very nearly smiling once more as their gazes locked.

"She taught me a lot, Mom did, without ever really trying. I didn't know what I had learned until I got here and...faced a real test."

Staring down a lethal mercenary without any means of defense would have tested the resolve of even Cade's most skilled covert agents. Garran had already gotten the Rys'tihn children to safety, and yet he put himself between the Kel Dor and the rest of the Retreat's guests, offering up his own life to slow the intruder... Cade had no doubt Solienne would have done the same.

"She would have been so proud of you...as I am." With a light laugh, he even smiled in spite of himself as he shook his head. "I know I couldn't have done as good a job as she did."

Garran gave a wan, knowing grin. "...she didn't give you the chance, did she?"

How could such wisdom and maturity have come from an eighteen-year-old boy who'd just had his entire world turned upside down little less than a year ago? Fighting his rising emotions, Cade swallowed hard and released a short, shaky breath, moving the subject forward to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

"Your cousins are going to miss you."

Garran gave a small laugh. "No, they won't. They'll forget all about me in a few months. And they're supposed to, because I...I'm not supposed to exist."

Shards of ice tore through Cade's veins. If he thought so little of himself... "Garran..."

But Garran still smiled. "No, it's okay," he buffered reassuringly. "I understand what I am. I'm supposed to be like you, like Deilia. I'm...I'm a ghost. It's what I was born into, and it's all I've known." The compassion in his eyes was so familiar. "I'm not angry or bitter about it, now that I know. I think...I think I'm okay."

Cade struggled to find his voice again. "I don't think _any_ of us are ever okay with it, but...we each make it our own."

"Then you understand. That's why I have to go with Deilia. I don't want her to be alone. If that has to be my job, to be her friend in her exile...then I'll do it."

The mix of pride and grief was a difficult combination to master. He couldn't stand the thought of losing his son a third time, but neither did he have the heart to force Garran to relinquish the debt he felt he owed to Deilia. He would have to watch his son walk away, just as Solienne had, without any guarantee that he would return. Knowing that Deilia would have a companion, though, was almost a relief, as much trouble as she had attracted in her few years of exile. As desperately as he wanted to fight against it...he had to give in.

"You take care of her," he mandated with as much strength as he could muster. "She likes to pretend she doesn't, but she needs someone just like the rest of us do. Don't let her tell you otherwise."

Nodding with understanding, Garran smiled. "I'll make sure she's okay." Before Cade could add anything more, Garran dug into his pocket and pulled something from it, handing it to him without hesitation. "Here. I want you to take this."

Cade knew what it was the instant he felt its cool, smooth surface. He didn't have to look at it. "Garran, this is yours..."

"I know," he answered with a grin. "I want you to keep it for me. Keep it safe. I have my Crest, but...I'll be back for my Life Stone."

Clutching the green marbled stone in his palm, Cade only barely managed to nod in agreement. It seemed so...surreal, so final, even moreso than how Solienne had left him. He had no more words, he could only look on his son with worry, regret, pride, hope...

With only a heartfelt smile, Garran stepped closer and embraced him tightly, unintentionally destroying Cade's last remaining reserve of strength.

"I love you, Dad."

He wasn't sure if Garran could hear him, because he was certain his voice had ceased to work. "I love you, too, Son." Before he became too lost in his emotions, he held his breath a moment as he took a step back from Garran, looking him in the eye once more. "You should get going. She won't like having to wait on you."

Garran agreed with a grinning nod, turning to leave the way he came. He didn't look back as he walked away, but Cade didn't expect him to; he had already made up his mind before he'd even stepped into the room.

Just as his mother had.

* * *

_Paneau: capital city of Dalon_  
_Rys'tihn Manor_  
_6.2 APC_

The sound of her daughter's soft cooing from across the room slowly brought Mand out of her light slumber. She was reclined in a comfortable, angled bed in the medical wing of the Manor, her home since being released from the Dalon Medical Center a few weeks ago. Along with a number of nurses, her mother-in-law, Untra Natiyr, had been her constant company, which afforded Rech a break Mand knew he appreciated. Still without the strength to even stand, Mand was forced to rely on others to care for her twins. As much as Untra was enamored with the newborn girls, though, Mand didn't think she minded much.

Lifting her heavy eyelids open, she looked over and saw Untra, as she expected, gently rocking Aruun in her arms as she made small noises. But just beside her, she saw her sister-in-law Yhren holding the other girl, Arlen, as she quietly slept. Yhren was first to meet Mand's gaze, and as she carefully made her way over to her with the infant, Mand smiled broadly at her.

"Yhren," she managed weakly. "When did you get back?"

Yhren smiled in return, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing Arlen. "A few hours ago. And I'll be here as long as I...need to be."

Though Mand thought her brief hesitation had been odd, she still appreciated the pledge as she laughed lightly. "We'll see how long that lasts. I'm sure you'll have your fill of these two in a few days."

Looking down at Arlen in her hold, Yhren shook her head. "But she's so quiet, even when she's awake. Like she's just...watching, studying everything."

"Rech was the same way."

Stepping over to them, Untra couldn't contain her smile as she continued. "He was such a good baby. He hardly ever made a fuss. They may be identical twins, but this one," she indicated Aruun still quietly grunting in her arms, "sounds like she's going to more than make up for the difference."

"She can scream and cry all she wants," Mand answered softly. "It reminds me how strong she is. How strong they both are."

A brief, reflective silence hung over the women before Untra reached down and gently squeezed Mand's hand. "After all you went through for them...you think there's any way they wouldn't be?"

Appreciating her support, Mand smiled warmly, returning Untra's grip on her hand. "Thank you both for your help. Rech needed this."

They both nodded in response, but it was Untra who answered her.

"It's really nothing, Mand. We're happy to do whatever we can for you and the girls." Pausing a moment as a wry smile formed on her face, Untra turned and began to return Aruun to her cradle on the other side of the room. "Besides...Yhren could use the practice."

Surprised and thoroughly embarrassed, Yhren struggled to form words as her cheeks flushed bright red. "Wha - but - ...Mom!" She looked to Mand, almost sounding defensive. "Listen, I - I'm not..." But she couldn't finish her sentence, still upset with her mother.

"What, Sweetie?" Untra innocently directed back at her, lightly tucking Aruun into her bed. "It's never too early to start planning for the future. You are going to give me more grandchildren, aren't you?"

"Mother, _please_."

Taking some strange pleasure in making her daughter so uncomfortable, Untra returned to them, still grinning. "Oh, it's not any secret, Yhren. You and that sweet pilot have been seeing each other for a few weeks now. You're _happy_, and I'm happy for you. You friends should be, too."

Mand glanced between the two, her curiosity piqued. "You'll have to fill me in. I have been out of it for a while, you know."

Yhren had opened her mouth to respond, but new footsteps echoed into the room from the door. Before Mand could turn her head to look, Untra had already spotted their new visitors.

"Speaking of, there he is."

Finally able to, Mand turned to see Elena being carefully helped into the room by Lt. Saross Wip, a pilot for Paneau's Edgepoint Squadron. Heavily pregnant, she was slow on her feet as she made her way to a chair beside Mand's bed, and though her expression remained light, Swip beside her looked little less than nervous with her.

Mand watched as Yhren returned Arlen to her cradle with her sister, seeming to take extra care with her to afford herself some time to recover her composure. Untra followed Mand's gaze, staying silent but still grinning.

"I sure hope you weren't as hard on Rech," Mand teased lightly. To her surprise, Untra's expression became more solemn as she thought.

"You and Rech were...different."

Mand furrowed her brows, unsure what she meant. "We were...younger?"

Untra shrugged. "Well, yes, there was that. But before he even brought you to us...you two had already been through a great deal together. It wasn't hard to see how much...and how _deeply_ he cared for you. I worried for him more than anything, but...what mother wouldn't."

As Yhren stepped over to them once more, Mand returned her attention to Elena as her friend eased herself down onto the chair beside her. The effort seemed to have exhausted her, and Swip still looked her over with concern, worrying Mand, as well.

"Elena? Are you alright?"

Before she could deflect, Swip answered for her. "Early labor."

"Elena!"

"I'm fine," Elena was quick to counter. "I can slow it down." She looked to Mand for sympathy as she wrapped an arm around her round belly. "You know how long I postponed it with Derek."

"You had to," Mand responded weakly. "He was way too early. But you're nearly full term with this one, and you're safe at home. You shouldn't interfere with it."

But Elena remained resolute, shaking her head. "I want Koril and Rech to be here for it. This is my third child. I think I know what I'm doing, and I can hold it off for a few hours, without any problems, until they get back from the ceremony."

Though Mand was far from pacified, the others seemed to accept Elena's assertion as they left Mand's side, stepping over to the twins' cradle to talk quietly with each other. With a small smile, Mand watched the somewhat awkward introduction Yhren gave her mother, which Swip returned with a polite bow. In true form, though, Untra simply pulled him into a warm embrace he wasn't expecting on their first meeting. Mand laughed lightly as she turned to Elena.

"So, your pilot is stealing my sister-in-law? When were you planning on telling me?"

Elena rolled her eyes with a playful grin. "He's not 'stealing' her anywhere. In fact...the Manor is about to get another new guest."

"What do you mean?"

Looking over at Yhren with Swip, Elena smiled with memories of her own. "You and Rech were the first to meet Koril before I did. Do you remember why?"

Mand nodded, slowly recalling their first introduction to the friendly pilot so many years ago. "He brought us to Paneau from Hoth, before Cordira was born."

"At Veon's request. Koril was the Banareccs' personal pilot and bodyguard, chosen from the ranks of the Edgepoint Squadron. And, well...we've asked Swip to do the same for us." Looking back up at the group, Elena smiled contentedly. "It'll be a good fit for him, and for us. The children can't get enough of him, and Koril knows how much I trust him. So he can be on call when we need him, he'll move into a room here in the Manor. He'll be more...available, at least moreso than he was with the busy schedule the Edgepoints kept, and I'm sure he won't be the only one who will appreciate that."

Smiling as she, too, looked over to the enamored pair, Mand released a slow, contented breath. "They look...happy. Reminds me of a certain couple, not so many years ago..."

Elena nodded absentmindedly, not understanding Mand's meaning until she met her gaze. The shift in conversation to herself made her laugh, blushing with memories of her own relationship with Koril in its similarly early stages. Her thoughts didn't linger in the past for very long, Mand could tell, as tears slowly formed in her eyes with a wan smile.

"You have no idea how..._relieved_ I am...to have him back."

With the little strength she had left, Mand slowly lifted her arm and reached over to Elena, only able to lightly grip her hand to share her support. Mand was only recently made aware of the specifics of Koril's final fight with the spirit of Morden Tarthos, but even in her severely weakened state, she could sense that her father's evil influence over Koril was completely gone, thanks to both his and Rech's combined efforts just a few weeks ago.

"I'm sorry he had to go through that," Mand soothed softly, "but I never lost faith in him, Elena. I want you to know that. And I want him to know that, too."

"He does."

Holding Dirani in his arms and tugging Derek along behind him, Koril stepped into the room with a warm smile, as did Rech just after him with Cordira at his side. Both men were dressed in their finest uniforms, prepared for the ceremony they were about to attend, and they each greeted their wives with a small, sweet kiss. Mand was only able to lightly stroke Cordira's hair before she and Derek ran over to the opposite side of the room, more interested in seeing the sleeping twins. Elena shook her head as she laughed at the two, taking Dirani from Koril's hold into her limited lap.

"How are you feeling, Sweetheart?"

Shooting a brief challenging look at Mand, Elena answered Koril with confidence. "I feel good."

"That baby should be here any day now, Elena," Rech looked her over with mild concern. "Barring any new...developments, you should finally be able to deliver here at home." He paused a moment, teasing with an affectionate grin. "It'll be a new experience for all of us."

Holding Dirani with one arm and Koril's hand in her other, Elena had to laugh as she rolled her eyes. "Yes, I remember very well the trying circumstances under which my first two were born. Please, don't curse my third."

"Have you decided on a name for her?"

Koril and Elena exchanged meaningful glances before he answered. "Kaylina. It's a combination of the first names of our paternal grandmothers, Kayvier Rys'tihn and Morlina Lyran."

"We thought that since Derek was named for Koril's ancestor and Dirani for my maternal grandmother, this one should incorporate both sides."

Mand could only smile at her friends. "It's beautiful."

Reluctantly interrupting their discussion, Swip stepped toward them, addressing Koril directly. "The _Celestia_ is ready for you, High Commander, whenever you wish to leave."

"The Scepter Guard will be expecting us to arrive early anyway," Koril nodded to Swip, looking up at Rech for his agreement. "Whenever you're ready."

Rech, however, looked to Mand and Elena first. "Is there anything you need us to bring you before we leave?"

"No, we're fine," Mand answered with a tired smile. "Untra and Yhren will be here with us."

Both Koril and Rech still looked hesitant to leave, though, forcing Elena to offer further reassurance. "I was there for the small, intimate wedding, but this event will be nothing less than grandiose. You both should just relax and enjoy it."

The official wedding of Verojec Banarecc and Seyiri Ordeel and the subsequent installation of Seyiri as Queen of Paneau was certainly going to be a joyous celebration that the beleaguered planet hadn't seen since Jec's coronation almost six years prior. As much as Mand wanted to attend, she was nowhere near being recovered enough, a fact that apparently kept Rech from leaving her side. With further gentle encouragement from her, though he eventually left with Swip and Koril, taking both Derek and Cordira with them.

Wearied from the lengthy conversations, Mand had to rest. Though none of her questions had been answered about the Kel Dor, such as who had employed him or why, she took comfort in the fact that he remained incarcerated in the Dalon Detention Center. Cordira was no longer the target of a kidnapping, and her twin girls were no longer being threatened by the spirit of her deceased father. Aruun and Arlen were healthy, and they were safe. Mand herself had a long way to go, but surrounded by her family and friends, she felt certain she would be back on her feet in no time.


End file.
